Tails: Return To Westside
by Capt.Obvious
Summary: After a dogfight with The Battle Kukku Army, Tails is shot down and stranded on Westside island. Forced to face his past and the bullies that used to torment him he must either forgive them and save them from the BKA or abandon them to save Sonic who he learns is in danger. This is the first book in a three or four book series about Tails and his hero Sonic. Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"What a great day to fly!" thought the 11 year old Tails as he flew his Tornado II over the expansive ocean. Tails was on his way to station square where he had heard Sonic was taking another vacation.

"Hopefully something exciting will happen and we can have another adventure." He thought.

The Fox couldn't be in a better mood. They sky was clear and the ocean was reflecting the light of the Morning sun. The sight was beautiful to behold. He began to hum to himself a song he had heard on the radio called "Live and Learn" and everything was right with the world.

But as with most good things in the young fox's life it didn't last very long.

Over the horizon an Island came into view. Not just any Island but Westside Island. Just the sight of his old home silenced his humming, and the only noise to be heard was the buzzing of the blue bi-plane's propeller.

Tails was instantly taken back to his life before he met sonic:

"Hey freak, where is your mommy and daddy?" Came the voice of a bully

"They probably abandoned him when they realized their son was a two tailed mutant freak." replied another bully.

"No… you're lying… My parents…." The defenseless child began.

"Shut up we didn't say you could talk. You're parents left you for dead and… and nobody even loves you."

Tails fought off the flashback and considered flying around the Island before he remembered anymore of his previous life.

"Wait what's that? Tails asked as he suddenly noticed several grey dots dancing above Westside.

"Maybe it's an air show," he thought "…I bet I could out fly everyone there."

Tails began to formulate a malicious plan to show off in front of his former bullies. "First I'll Buzz the audience… upside down…and then I'll…I'll pull of some epic aerobatics and put the other pilots to shame and….and then I'll…"

_*BOOM*_

The sound of an explosion interrupted the Fox. "Wha…What happened?" Tails thought as smoke started to rise from the beach. "Did someone crash?"

A few moments later and more explosions ripped across the island, it was scene he had seen many time during his exploits with Sonic.

"Westside is under attack… Serves them right… I ought to just leave them to… but Sonic would want me to…" Tails didn't know what to do, "They don't deserve… it would be wrong…but…"

Tails was interrupted by the whizzing of bullets over his canopy. Instinct took over as the Fox hit the speed breaks, pulled back on the stick, and rolled the Tornado II over the aggressor who had snuck up behind him. Tails squeezed the trigger and bullets shot out of the front of his airplane and into the wing of his adversary. The wing split in two and the smoking remains of his foe plummeted to the island below.

"Well If I wasn't going to fight before I guess I am now," Tails said as other fighters, noticing their fallen comrade, began to race towards him.

"There's no way I'll be able to win in this mode." Tails flipped a switch causing the wings to spread into an X shape and sweep back like a jet fighter. The back half of the fuselage razed to reveal a jet engine and the propeller retracted into the front of the plane.

"Jet mode activated!" The fox proclaimed. For a moment the Tornado sat mid air. The transformation temporarily stalled the Tornado. His enemies saw this and prepared to attack.

"Three…"

The fighters drew closer.

"…Two..."

The flash of machine guns began to flicker

"…One!" The Tornado's jets roared as the Tornado rocketed forward towards his enemies

He began to maneuver though swarm of unprepared fighters shooting at any foe unlucky enough to fly in front of the Fox's guns. The Sky began to fill with black smoke as Anti-air guns on the island began to fire.

"What can't stand the fact I'm saving your butts again!" the Fox yelled knowing no one could hear.

Soon the once clear sky became a flaming inferno of bullets, flack, and scrap metal.

"Wonder who these fighters belong to," The Fox wondered as he fired a burst into another unfortunate foe, "they certainly don't belong to Eggman but… but something about them seems… familiar."

The grey fuselage, large canopies, and swept wings that look like they were put on backwards where so unique he knew he must have seen them before, but he just couldn't remember.

That's when he spotted it. On the wing of his foe was the letters "BKA" Tails couldn't believe it. Once again he was fighting the Battle Kukku Army, his old foes from Cocoa Island!

Suddenly Tails found himself in a head on pass with a Green colored Fighter that must belong to their leader. As they Zipped by each other Tails caught a glimpse of the pilot. A green Kukku bird with aviator goggles on his forehead, a red bandana around his neck, and was giving him "the bird"

"Speedy." Tails cursed under his breath. Suddenly filled with rage he yanked the joystick and turned hard as he prepared go head on again with his rival. But something was wrong.

"Where did he go?" Tails gasped, unprepared for what came next.

Bullets riddled his aircraft as the menace dove at him from above. Tails Turned hard trying to avoid the rounds now impacting his Tornado. But by the time he was out of his foe's attack the tornado had taken a lot of punishment. The engine was spewing smoke, and he had a hole the size of a chilidog in the right wing.

"Come on. You've been through worse" Tails coaxed his Airplane as he turned again to face his rival.

Suddenly an unseen missile impacted him from behind. "Impossible my radar should have warned me…" More bullets impacted the tornado as Speedy attacked the confused fox in front.

It was who the winner was.

Tails strapped on a belt filled with survival gear and pulled the handle that was labeled "EJECT". Moments later his seat rocketed out of the burning Tornado II.

Tails undid his harness and began to fall towards the Island. The sound of his prized fighter exploding above his head sent shivers down the fox's spine.

There he was falling towards the island that shunned him as a child, after being defeated by an army of psychotic birds with a grudge, and all he had was a handful of old explosives, an old wrench, and canteen filled with water.

"And to think today started off so well."

Tails fell towards his old home. In any other situation he'd probably be having the time of his life right now. He usually loved the feel of the wind blowing in the face. But with the fighters still flying around, an Island under attack from a bunch of angry Birds and bullies below him, and the understanding Sonic wouldn't be by his side to help him get through it all, the two-tailed fox was scared out of his mind.

A cold chill swept over the Fox as he caught sight of the BKA's soldiers landing unchallenged on the beach in boats that look like they belong in an old war movie.

"What on Mobius am I going to do?" The fox wondered, "I'm not Sonic I can't just run around the island non-stop attacking everyone I see until I win."

Tails needed a plan but all he could think about is how screwed he was.

"Don't worry Tails I know you've got this."

Tails heard the voice of his adoptive brother and remembered all the times his brother believed in him. Even when the whole world thought he would fail.

"I won't let you down Sonic," Tails thought "I can do this!" Tails began to form a plan of action.

"Ok… At this altitude I should be able to land almost anywhere on the Island with ease… um… I… think I remember the Emerald hill zone the best… so… I guess that's where I'll start."

The Fox began to spin his tails and accelerate towards the Island, aiming Himself at the Emerald colored zone. Tails could only hope none of the still patrolling fighters decided to attack.

As the ground approached he began to decelerate and assumed a standing position. With the grass only feet away and going slow enough to land safely he stopped spinning his tails letting momentum and gravity take over. He hit the ground running and instantly he began to search for one of his old hiding places.

"Those soldiers will be here any minute," the fox grunted as he ran towards a nearby waterfall. His ears perked as the sound of gunfire began to echo across the landscape. The fox ran under the waterfall.

Inside was a small cave that only cut into the wall a couple of feet. The ground was covered in dirt and mud.

"Okay….now what?" Tails wondered as the sounds of fighting became louder and louder.

Tails took a quick glance out of his hideout. He could see people running from a group strange looking tanks he quickly identified as Mole Mechs.

"If I try and help them I'll only get myself killed…. And…and I'm not sure they deserve my help anyway." He reassured himself as he ducked back under the waterfall.

Tails found a dry spot and sat down on the cold dirt. Within moments he was thinking about his life before he met Sonic:

*sniff* "I…I guess you're right…maybe I should just die…"*sniff*

"Well hurry up and kill you're self already freak. You're wasting everyone's... oh what's the word…um…it has something to do with clocks…."

"…Time?"

"Whatever freak… just…just go jump off a cliff."

The fox again fought off the painful memories.

"Maybe I should just leave. After all they put me though they don't deserve my help." The Sky began to turn dark as the sounds war slowly disappeared in the distance. "If it wasn't for Sonic I would never have helped them back when Eggman first attacked… And now I've no reason to fight…. But… but Sonic would want me to help them." The fox sighed. He knew leaving would be wrong but he just couldn't find it in himself to save his former bullies a second time.

"This is why when I left I swore I would never return." The fox sighed.

"Hay did you hear that?" came a voice outside.

The Fox instantly covered his mouth with his hands.

"Yeah sounded like someone talking," came a reply.

"It came from that waterfall."

"Let's check it out."

Tails heart skipped a beat as he realized he would soon come face to face with whoever was outside. He didn't know if they where BKA, locals, or someone else entirely, and personally he didn't want to. He began to franticly look for a hiding spot but the small cave was only a few feet big. And there wasn't even a rock to hide behind.

"Hear that?"

"Yeah someone's in there for sure."

"Let's just shoot in there and kill the coward."

Tails heart sank. "Well at least I know there not friendly." He thought sarcastically

_*Ratatatatatatatatat!*_

The Sound of automatic weapons echoed across the emerald colored hills that made up the zone. A few seconds later and the zone fell silent.

"Looks like we got him"

"Okay now let's go catch up with the main force, It's about dinner time and I hear their having Corndogs."

"Again? I hate corndogs!"

"Well its corndogs or nothing."

"Ok but I get to take the lead on the way there."

The sound of footsteps signaled the soldiers exit to the fox now lying on the ground.

"Birdbrains are just as stupid as they were on Cocoa." He thought. "They just blind fired in without thinking maybe I was on the ground…that and they announced their plan for the whole world to know." The fox wanted to laugh but held it in as to prevent anyone else from finding him.

He didn't know if he was going to help Westside defeat the BKA, but cracking a few skulls certainly wouldn't cost him any sleep.

"Listen to me I sound like sonic," he yawned.

The fox closed his eyes and fell asleep..


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello everyone and thank you for reading Tails: Return to Westside. As I stated in the description this is the first of three or four books featuring Tails and his hero Sonic (Sonic won't be making an appearance in this book but the next one will feature him exclusively). I hope to update quickly at least once a week but with school starting soon I can't guaranty anything. Anyway I hope you enjoy. _

Chapter 2

Smoke, destruction, and fire covered the bleak landscape. Both the Chaos emeralds and the Master Emerald lay scattered on the grey dirt. Their once colorful exteriors are replaced by a transparent shell.

Scorched trees are the only sign that life once existed here, the remains of three gigantic mechanical beasts lay in heaps across the ground, and in the middle of it all, stood the young Miles Prower.

"Such a rare occasion it is when you can see the end of a journey at the beginning" Came a monotone voice from behind.

Tails knew who had just spoken though he was unhappy to see him.

"Hello Cocoa" He said in an uncomfortably as he turned to face him.

Before him stood a nine-tailed fox wearing an olive green clock and carrying a large scepter with an orange orb attached to the top. A hood covered most of his face.

"Not exactly the warm greeting I was expecting after that speech you gave me on my island."

"Things have changed and… and I don't want to do this anym…"

"You already accepted the terms of our contract. Your personal feelings about it mean nothing now."

"I… I know it's just…" Tails turned away to look again at his future. A cloud of dirt flew across the dismal scene.

"Things changed. I have friends now and I don't want to lose anyone." He finished

"So you would sacrifice the lives of everyone around you just to keep your little club of friends?" The full kitsune asked with a hint of anger in his voice. "Because I'd think you would have learned by now that friends don't last forever, especially after you killed one of them."

Tails flinched. He hated ever thinking about that day or even her for that matter.

"I…I didn't have a choice it was that or… or… all of us died." Miles said fighting off the tears that instantly came with that dreadful memory.

"So you think sacrifice is only acceptable when you're the one who benefits." Cocoa yelled furiously.

"No…I…"

"You think this world revolves around you… or at least that hedgehog. But it doesn't matter what you think. He'll die before you're very eyes before history runs its course."

"WHAT!... No…He…I…I'll make sure that doesn't happen…. I'll …I'll stop all of this from happening. You'll see."The teary eye fox said as he glanced back at Cocoa.

"Fight it all you want fox. Your destiny will run its course and no matter what you do you'll stand on this very spot and save the world."

The world began to fade to darkness.

A moment passed and Tails opened his eyes, Cocoa's last words still echoing in his head.

He was lying on the ground where he had ducked to avoid the soldier's attack the night before. Slowly he got up and looked outside.

The splashing of water on his head provided a great jolt of energy as he surveyed the landscape. Not much had changed. Other than a few toppled trees and patches of blood stained grass It look just like it always did.

By now the BKA had taken Metropolis and the brief war was over.

Tails noticing no one was in sight exited his hideout. Still haunted by his dream he wondered how he was going to get off this island and go save Sonic.

"Wait! That's just what he wants me to do," The fox thought. "If Sonic is dies before my eyes then maybe I should avoid him at all costs! …But if nothing I do can change the fact that he dies then… maybe I should…but that may only speed up the… "

_*Growl*_

The fox's hungry stomach interrupted his train of thought.

"Ok. Ok. Food first, figuring out how I'm going to get out of this mess later."

The Fox walked towards a nearby coconut tree and began to twirl his tails. He lifted off the ground and grabbed the first coconut he saw.

"Man if I couldn't fly I would never have eaten on this god forsaken Island." He said as he shook it next to his ear to make sure he picked a good one.

The sound of swishing juice signaled it was so and he landed and grabbed his wrench from his survival belt and began smacking it on the top of the coconut. It took a couple tries but it finally cracked and Tails drank up the juice inside. He then scraped out the flesh and began to eat the coconut. It wasn't much but it was something.

"Now on to the issue at hand, "He thought. "If I want to leave to find Sonic I'll need a way off this island, and if I stay to fight the Battle Kukku Army I'll need to establish air superiority over those birds eventually. So guess the first step ether way would be to build a new Tornado."

Tails began to write a mental list of all the materials he would need to build a new airplane. "It will have to be better than the Tornado II if I don't want to repeat yesterday's defeat. As time went on a design began to formulate in his head.

His new Tornado would be the most advanced yet.

"Don't get too carried away Tails," he told himself, "Remember you still have to build it. And this isn't your workshop, it's a war zone."

Deciding he should first grab some scrap metal he set off towards the Casino zone.

He walked where large amounts of trees and other vegetation that would make him hard to spot. Avoiding clearings where he could be spotted was annoying, but seeing as he spent most of his life on this island avoiding others it wasn't difficult to find a safe way around.

As he walked along he began to survey the damage the BKA had caused. Not many people were dead and other than a few trees nothing was damaged or destroyed. "Funny," He thought "I figured they would just burn everything to the ground like they did in Poly Forest."

The thought of Cocoa Island sent shivers down his spine as he remembered his dream. He made the biggest mistake of his life on that island and now he had to figure out how to save Sonic and stop himself from fulfilling that stupid contract.

"If only I knew what I was… wasn't supposed to do."

Tails approached the outskirts of the casino zone only to find the scenery much different than he remembered. Unlike the Emerald hill the giant casino was a scene of complete devastation. Giant holes where blasted into the once neon lit buildings, the wailing of the dying echoed off the debris, and to it off every few feet lay some poor soul's body bullet ridden and mangled beyond recognition.

"After all these years and I still can't stand the sight of dead people," the fox thought as he began to get a bad taste in his mouth, "But… I guess that's not something you're supposed to get used to."

The stench of death began to take its toll on Tails, and within moments he was on his knees vomiting out his meal from earlier.

"Yuck!" he said as he realized that there was a dead body now covered with vomit right in front of his face. He quickly got up and ran towards the casino entrance trying desperately not to throw up again.

"That was just the outside I sure hope the… his thought was interrupted as he entered the Casino theme park. Before him lay a dying pig that was bleeding heavily out of a large hole in his back.

"Please….ugh…help… me" he begged as he inched his way towards the frightened fox.

Tails took off in a full sprint through the park as he tried desperately not to step on any bodies.

"There is nothing you could have done. There is nothing you could have done. There is nothing anyone could have done." Tails reassured himself. In all his years adventuring with Sonic he had never seen something so gruesome.

"Eggman may me evil but these Birds…" Tails thought. "They're flat out insane. Where they this bad on cocoa…?

"NO PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM I'LL DO ANYTHING!" a voice came from a nearby building

For a moment Tails hesitated. He knew the scene in there could be much worse than the one before him, if it was possible. He may even be saving the life of one of the many bullies that tormented him years ago. But the image of the dying cat still burned fresh in his mind propelled the fox to enter the theater. It didn't matter who needed his help he just wanted to teach these birds a lesson.

Tails entered a massive theater. The walls were decorated with blood stained banners and the stage was lit by dozens of ceiling lights that proved the only illumination in the room. On stage two Foxes where being blindfolded and pushed toward a blood stained wall, A group of Kukku soldiers stood with automatic rifles waiting for them to be pushed into position, a young vixen who must be their daughter was being forced back towards her seat, and to top it all off the theater was filled with people being forced to watch.

It only took one glance to recognize the Foxes now on death row. They where Mr. and Mrs. Odds, the owners of the casino zone theme park and one of the most wealthy families on Mobius.

Tails realizing he was just standing in plain view quickly jumped onto the rafters where he began to formulate a plan. He moved his way across the theater until he was directly above the wall the Odds where now up against. He sat ready to pounce.

"Step one on how to do something heroically stupid and live to tell about it is make sure who ever is in trouble gets to safety," The voice of his Idol echoed in his head.

Tails grinned as he reached into one of the pockets of his survival belt.

"Thanks for the tip big bro."

The Firing squad took their positioned.

"READY…AIM…"

Something round fell unnoticed in front of the guards.

"FIRE!"

_*BLAM*_

Suddenly a blinding light engulfed the stage.

"I can't see!" One of them screamed as he fell over.

"What just happened?" Another asked as he bent over rubbing his eyes.

"Did we do that?"

"I don't think so."

A moment later the squad had regained their vision.

They got up to find their victims missing from the wall and began franticly searching for the Odds. The crowd was in an uproar, many of them having been blinded just like the Soldiers on stage wanted to know what happened and why the soldiers where freaking out.

But one young Vixen simply smiled.

She had been looking away as to avoid the sight of her parent's death but when she heard the explosion she turned to see them lifted to the roof. "

The soldiers giving up on their search turned their attention to the riot that had arisen within the stands. They began firing their guns above the audience's heads to regain control.

Suddenly a yellow ball crashed on top of the soldier in charge knocking him unconscious. The confused soldiers turned to face the adversary only to see someone they wished never to cross paths with again.

"He…he has two tails…you think he is the guy from Cocoa?" one asked.

"How many other two tailed freaks are there?" another snapped back.

"Well don't just stand there shoot him" announced a third.

They raised their weapons to fire but weren't prepared for what came next. Tails ducked and rolled in front of the first soldier and thrust an uppercut into his gut as he spun his tails and took flight.

The Bird fell back on to the stage dropping his weapon and clutching his stomach.

Another soldier began to shoot at the flying fox but was thrown into the air by an exploding grenade he never saw land at his feet. The blast sent him crashing into the wall. The last remaining soldier, remembering what the fox did on Cocoa, turned to run for his life.

Tails let him escape.

"So they don't have a problem killing unarmed civilians but when someone fights back they turn tail and run," He growled.

Realizing his work wasn't done he flew back onto the rafters and grabbed the confused and still blindfolded Odds. The crowed was in another uproar. Tails wasn't sure if it was because of his victory or because the freak they hated so much had returned but he wouldn't stay to find out.

After he put the Odds back down on the stage Tails ran towards the back door the soldier had just made his escape out of.

He still had a mission to complete here and he had already wasted enough time with this distraction.

He ran towards a pile of scrap metal that used to be part of one of the famous giant pinball machines and began to pack as much as he could into his survival belt. He then picked up some larger pipes and then took off in the direction of the green hill zone.

It was only a matter of time before more bird-brained soldiers showed up. The Emerald hill zone was too far away to make before nightfall as the sun was already setting. The mountains that made up Green hill where his only option. In his panic however he was unaware of the figure that had followed him out of the theater and was now tailing him as he escaped.

_Well that concludes chapter 2 of Tails: Return to Westside. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you will continue to read my story. Please review so I can know what I can improve on. _


	3. Chapter 3

_ Hello again everyone here is the next chapter in T:RTW. I probably should have said this in the first chapter the Battle Kukku Army is an Army of birds who Tails fights in the game gear game Tails Adventure. I also typed in the previous chapter I said Tails was going to the Green hill zone but it is actually called Hill Top zone. (I'm using the names of levels in Sonic 2 if you haven't guessed.)And I will be referring to the zone by its proper name from now on. Enjoy_

Chapter 3

Tails set off in a full sprint towards the Hill top zone. The sun had already set and the sky was now dark. The only sounds came from the Casino zone where sirens echoed across the landscape signaling the beginning of the search for the two tailed fox.

The element of surprise was gone now and after his victory on Cocoa Island and his most recent stunt they certainly would not rest until he was dead. Tails couldn't deny he had made a mistake saving the Odds.

"They'll probably still kill the Odds and maybe even everyone else in the theater because of what I did there."

The BKA wouldn't let word of that failure spread to anyone else they let live. The last thing they would want is for people to become bold and start to resist their rule.

He entered the Hill top Zone and quickly found a tree to hide in. He set his scrap metal he brought with him under a group bush and flew to the top of the pine tree. He hid under the pine needles and tried to find a comfortable position.

For a moment he considered going to sleep but after last night's dream he didn't want to risk another encounter with Cocoa. He'd had a bad enough day already.

"I…I think I'll just hide here until…."

_*Yawn*_

The fox's eyes became heavy.

"No… I'm not going to sleep…. I'm… just going to sit here and rest"

He began to think about everything that had happened. Being shot down, planning to build a new plane, the dying pig in front of the Casino zone, and his reckless move in the theater. Would Sonic approve of everything he's done so far?

"I wonder what Sonic is doing right now?" he wondered as his eyes closed….

Tails was standing on a dirt road in the middle of a large forest. The sky was overcast and looked like it was minutes from raining.

"I sure hope there's no lightning." The fox said clueless to the fact he was in a dream.

He began feel like there was something important down the road and he began to walk forward wondering what he would find. The Forrest around him was strangely quiet and the only sound came from the wind blowing between the large oak trees.

After about five minutes of walking on the dirt road Tails came upon a clearing with small cabin and Blue hedgehog standing by the front door.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled instantly recognizing his hero.

The hedgehog did not respond but merely glanced up at tails with an unhappy look in his face.

Tails ran to his brother and stretched his arms out ready to give him a big bear hug. But when he reached Sonic he was greeted with a fist to his stomach.

Tails fell back onto the ground.

"Ouch! ...Hey why'd you do that?" The confused fox asked in pain.

The hedgehog walked up in front of Tails moving his mouth as though he was yelling but didn't make a sound, tears where dripping from his eyes.

Tails knew he had failed somehow and now Sonic was mad at him.

The sky began to sprinkle small droplets of rain on the two below.

"I'm…I'm sorry….but" the fox whimpered as he slowly stood up.

Again Sonic threw a fist into Tails gut.

Tails's vision was blurred with tears as he fell to the ground again. He tried to stand but Sonic stepped on Tails' back preventing him from moving. Sonic was still yelling at Tails but Tails couldn't hear anything.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky

_*BANG!*_

Tails jumped up and fell out of the tree he had taken refuge in the night before. Hitting every branch on the way down his impact with the ground wasn't hard but painful nonetheless.

"Ugh….." he groaned as he picked himself up off the ground, "I think I'll sleep on the ground from now on… man I have the worst luck with dreams." He was a little shaken by the thought of Sonic hitting him.

The bushes rustled signaling he was not alone and the fox instantly turned towards the sound and raised his fists taking a fighting stance.

"I know you're out there!" he called expecting a dozen Kukku soldiers to jump out and ambush him.

But instead he was greeted by a frightened yet familiar face. In front of him stood a young Vixen a little older than Tails with blond fur and purple eyes wearing a tattered red dress that must have cost a fortune only a few days ago.

"I….I….I…." she stuttered not knowing what to say.

"You're the Odds daughter."Tails said not lowering his guard. "What are you doing here?"

Tails didn't trust her since she used to pick on him before he left the island to help Sonic and become a hero.

"I…I…saw you…. You…grab the metal…. And thought you might need some more….so I….sort of followed you… with some… more metal."

Tails couldn't believe his ears. One of his former bullies was helping him. Was everyone like this or was she the only one.

"Um… Tails….?" She asked Tails who was staring into deep space.

"Oh! …uh…thanks… So where is it?" Tails asked as he lowered his fists.

The vixen motioned to the group of bushes he had hidden his own metal the night before and Tails jaw nearly fell all the way to the ground. The bushes where crushed under a pile of old gears pipes and other miscellaneous scrap.

There was enough scrap metal to build three tornados!

_Well there you go. I hope you Enjoyed the third chapter of T:RTW and I hope to have more chapters ready soon. This chapter is shorter than my last two but I'm writing this at 12am and I've had a long week with school starting back up. I promise the next chapter will be longer. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Here is chapter 4 of T:RTW enjoy._

Two shady men sat down at a dark table in the middle of a blacked out room. The room contained only the table, some chairs and a busted chandelier attached to the ceiling. Cob webs still hung all across the room even after a decade of time had passed.

One of the men was plump, bald, and had a long mustache. He wore a red coat, black pants, and had a set of goggles on his forehead. He reached into a pouch and pulled out a small, round radio device and put it on the table.

"Can you hear us?" he asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Loud and clear," came a voice over the radio that was scrambled to prevent anyone who may be listening to their discussion couldn't identify the man on the other side of the radio, "Now tell me why were meeting so soon. I thought our first target was eliminated.. "

"Well…um… the target…survived." said the other man in the room.

He was a green bird in his mid 50s wearing a red military dress uniform and a black Russian hat with the BKA emblem on the front.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN'T DEAD!" the man on the radio yelled. He couldn't afford for this plan to fall short, and already they had a major setback.

"Well… late last night my soldiers were ambushed. They suffered serious injuries and every one of them said that their assailant was a two-tailed fox.

"This is bad. That fox is the only one who can possibly figure out our plan and if he does… its game over." said the fat one.

"Don't worry I have a plan to flush him out. He is still on the island after all, and so long as he doesn't make contact with Sonic he can't warn him of our plans." The bird said

"Well your plan better work because otherwise he will find Sonic… He always does." The egg shaped man said.

_Meanwhile_

Tails couldn't believe his eyes. Last night he hadn't even gathered enough metal to make an eighth of the Tornado's frame and this girl just brought him enough to complete the Tornado.

Of course he still needed some old computer parts, a canopy, and an engine to power it all.

"How…..How did you….?" Tails stuttered unable to comprehending his good fortune.

"I made a couple of trips….. And this weird Dog helped me." The Vixen said quite proud.

"… Thanks…. Where's the dog?"

"Oh…um…I really don't know. He disappeared a couple of hours ago. He said something about keeping some promise to an old friend. I wonder what he meant."

"Well um… this is nice and all but… Why are you helping me?"

"Why?! You saved my parents, stood up to those birds, and saved everyone in the theater. Why wouldn't I help you?"

"I'm sorry it's just…..I thought you all still hated me."

Sara sighed, "Some still do. After you left with Sonic it became a big debate on the island. Feuds broke out all over the island just on whether or not to consider you a hero. About one-third of the island thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread and the other two-thirds… They think you're the devil' spawn

"That sounded a little rehearsed."

"Oh…uh…yeah it… sort of was."

"Um…OK?"

Tails felt uneasy. Something in her eyes was off. Not bad off but just unusual. She had some other motive for wanting to help him, Tails could tell. But it didn't really matter to him; a Friend is a friend after all.

"Well…. I guess I was wrong about you people," Tails said "Maybe you are not all heartless bullies."

The vixen flinched at the word heartless. "How could he think…"

"By the way," Tails began "You never told me your name."

"…Oh uh…" She blushed, "Its Sara…. Sara Odds."

"Well it's…" Tails was cut off by a loud noise from the sky.

They both looked up to see a giant flying warship, like the ones Eggman uses, only with a BKA emblem on the side, as it blocked out the sun casting a shadow over the Forrest. On the bottom of the Ship a large monitor lit up revealing a Green Bird in his mid 50s wearing a red jacket and a black Russian style hat with the BKA emblem on the front.

"Fifteen…" Tails cursed under his breath.

Battle Kukku Fifteen was the leader of the BKA army. Never much of a fighter he, like Tails, was never good at hand to hand combat. The only time Tails had ever fought this man it wound up being a glorified snowball fight with explosives. But what the Bird lacked in fighting ability he made up for with a large army of ruthless Kukku birds who do everything he says. Something Tails doesn't have.

"Alright little fox, I know you're down there and you can hear me, so listen up because I'm only going to say this once. That little stunt you pulled on Cocoa Island is NOT going to happen again. If we find you we are going to kill you on site. My men have trained heavily since our last battle and will not lose to you again."

"To bad I beat the crap out of some of your men already" Tails chuckled as the Bird continued to rant about his superior army.

"But being the nice guy I am if you want to leave and never return there will be a yacht on the coast of Emerald hill ready to take you where ever you want. After all, why would you want to save an island full of bullies?"

"But sir I thought we were supposed to kill the fox not let him…." A small bird began to whisper to the Battle Kukku leader

_*WACK*_

Battle Kukku fifteen smacked the bird.

"You idiot! I told you we planted explosives on the bottom of the boat and once he gets out to sea…. I just said that into the microphone didn't I"

The monitor went black

Tails and Sara stood staring at the flying warship processing what was just happened.

"Supposed to…" Tails wondered. "As in his soldiers are supposed to of he is supposed to or…?"

"Talk about slip of the tongue, I've seen ADHD squirrels with a better poker face."

Tails ignored her comment as his mind began to try and formulate a strategy to deal with the warship.

"I'm going to need the tornado just to be able to reach the ship and even then who's to say it won't be a repeat of last time… and that thing is sure to have a radar that will give away my position before I get ten feet off the ground… and what about speedy?" As much as he thought he couldn't see any way to get rid of the warship.

"Um Tails..." Sara asked breaking Tails train of thought.

"What?"

"…won't they be able to see the pile of scrap metal from their flying boat thing?"

"CRAP!" Tails ran towards the pile picking up every piece of scrap he could get his hands on.

Sara followed suit.

"Ok…um… where can we… maybe the em… no to obvious… how about… no…" Tails was panicking trying to figure out where to hide his scrap before an Army of birds swooped down and killed them both.

Suddenly it hit him.

"We'll go to the mystic cave."

"WHAT! You can't be serious. We could be eaten by some foul beast of fall into a bottomless pit or…."

"You got a better Idea? Besides we don't have to go deep into the cave just deep enough to hide everything."

"… But…"

"It will be ok trust me." Tails said as began to run towards the cave. But inside he was worried too. The last time he was inside the cave he fell into a punji pit and if it wasn't for his ability to fly he would have died. But if Sara noticed his uncertainty she might not want to help him anymore and while he hardly knew her, she was the only one on the island he could trust. He would just have act confident like Sonic.

"Yeah… Just like Sonic. If I get scared I will just act like Sonic, and everything will be fine." He thought.

Sara followed Tails close behind as they made the quarter mile journey to the nearest entrance to the cave. They didn't say anything else but Tails made sure to keep a cocky smile hoping to calm Sara's nerves.

Sara however was confused by Tails' overconfidence.

"Just a moment ago he was freaking out and now he's so... so sure of himself. This is nothing like they make him out to be on the news." Sara pondered as they continued towards the cave.

After about seven minutes they arrived at a opening cut into a large cliff. Cautiously, the two entered.

The mystic cave is not a natural cave but a man made cavern that was initially made for use by the West Side military as some top secret facility. However before Tails was born the WS military disbanded after the mysterious disappearance of their leader. Locals quickly began to explore the cave, curious about what secrets if held but after several deaths and reports of giant abysses, feral beasts, and punji pits the cave earned a sinister reputation.

Nothing about the cave's entrance looked even mildly dangerous but only a few feet in the cave and they were consumed by darkness. The only light came from the ever glowing, dimly lit torches that lined the cave's walls. Spider webs could be found everywhere and old wooden crates sat unopened by the wall.

After a few feet in Tails set down his scrap.

"No need to go any farther." He said turning to exit the cave and grab more scrap metal.

Sara followed suit relieved to be leaving the cave.

They continued the process, gathering more scrap and dragging it to the cave until there was only a few handfuls of scrap left to gather.

As they approached their destination Tails abruptly stopped.

"What is it" Sara asked "why did we s…"

"_Shhhhhhh_" Tails hushed.

Tails motioned with his hands signaling Sara to stay where she was as he began to scan the area. He tiptoed up to a nearby tree and quietly began to climb it. A few moments later and he glided down carrying an unconscious Kukku soldier.

He reached into his survival belt. and grabbed a few grenades and a smoke bomb.. A grim grew on his face as a plan took root in his mind.

He took one of the grenades and pulled the pin. He then threw it to his left and took cover with Sara behind a tree.

*BOOM*

The explosion startled the group of birds who had been waiting in the nearby trees and bushes in ambush. They quickly began to fire their automatic rifles randomly in panic. Tails then tossed the smoke bomb in the pile of scrap and within moments the scene was covered in a black smokescreen.

*Ratatatatatatatatat*

Tails jumped from tree to tree dropping grenades by the confused soldiers as they continued to fire hoping to hit their unseen foe.

*Ratatatatatatatatat*

*BOOM*

*Ratatatatatatatatat*

*BOOM*

When the smoke cleared seven Kukku soldiers lay unconscious on the ground with a Two-Tailed fox and a normal Vixen standing victoriously above them.

"That was amazing!" Sara proclaimed excitedly.

"I don't see why." Tails responded nonchalantly as he remembered Sonic's second step on "How to do heroically something and live to tell about it."

"Turn your opponents' advantage into their greatest weakness." Sonic's voice echoed in Tails's head.

"All I did was turned their element of surprise into mine. I threw the grenade as a ruse to trick them into giving away their positions. Once they began to shoot I used the smoke bomb to mask my movements so I could attack each bird individually. At that point their surprise attack became mine."

"Wow you really thought that through..." Sara said. "… But how did you run through all that without getting shot?"

Tails chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well…. I… got lucky I guess."

"WHAT!" Sara snapped "ARE YOU CRAZY!"

"Maybe..." Tails laughed "…hanging with Sonic does that to people. Now come on we need to get the rest of this back to the cave."

_Well there you go. The fourth chapter of T:RTW. It took me a little longer than I hoped but I've been sidetracked with school, my family, and I've procrastinated a lot. (Heck most of this was written while I was avoiding my homework) See you next time._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello again everyone. I'm glad to see that people are enjoying this story and that I'm not just writing to a nonexistent audience. Any way here is the inevitable and pointless disclaimer telling you things you already know. I do not own Sonic the hedgehog (Not that anyone would ever think I did). Or any characters associated with the franchise. Sonic the hedgehog belongs to Sega and Sonic Team… Ok now that's out of the way so enjoy :)_

Tails and Sara set their gear down in the cave and slouched against the wall. They were exhausted.

The return had gotten a little tricky when a group of Kukku soldiers began to pursue them shortly after they began the journey back. They wound up having to leave their scrap so Tails and Sara could fly to the cave. Fortunately the birds never noticed the two flying foxes as they flew over their heads.

When they finally arrived it was almost sundown.

"Well… at least today wasn't a complete waste," Tails said glancing at the pile of scrap lying by some old crates a few feet down the corridor.

"I would agree but I don't even know why this pile of junk is so important," Sara replied a little angry that Tails had gone through all this effort and never bothered to tell her why.

"Well seeing as I'm fighting an army of birds," Tails said, "It only makes since to want to rule the skies. That's why I plan on using that to build a new Tornado."

Suddenly Tails felt a little guilty. He had really built this plane with the intent to leave the island, with or without defeating the BKA.

"I can't leave her," he thought "or anyone here for that matter."

The image of the dead in the casino zone came to mind. He saw the sad, helpless faces in the theater as they watched their friends die. He began to feel like it was his responsibility to help them.

"Maybe when I've saved them, they will finally be able to see past my second tail," he thought, picturing a life free of bullies and hateful comments and...

"Tails…Tails!"

"What?"

"Don't ask me what! You're the one that zoned out there."

"Oh…sorry I just… don't worry about it."

Tails just couldn't let her know he had considered abandoning the island with his plane. She had already done so much for him it would seem criminal to use her efforts for his personal gain. Besides, Cocoa said Sonic would die while he was around so staying to fight was possibly the best thing to do to save his hero anyway.

"_Humph!" _

Sara wasn't too happy with Tails response.

"He's hiding something I just know it." She thought wondering why the fox would be keeping a secret.

It was always her weakness. She always wanted to know everyone secrets. She just couldn't stand not knowing what everyone around her was trying to hide. This was something she would have to find out. Not now though, she had a method of coxing people into sharing these things with her. All she needed was time.

"Hey Sara..."

"What?"

"You've been a big help already but if it isn't too much trouble, could you stick around and help me build the Tornado?"

"Did I ever say I was going to leave? No Tails, you're stuck with me." Sara laughed.

They sat there for a while just having a little small talk. Tails used this time to figure out just who this Sara was and how he could bet rely on her while Sara simply used the time to forget the devastation outside the cave.

Apparently Sara and her parents where never that close due to her father being a high ranking member of the local mob who used his casino as a way to fund the criminal organization. Her mother was very quiet and always did what she was told and naturally tried to raise Sara the same way. However she still loved her parents even with their flaws and was devastated when the BKA attempted to execute them. So after Tails rescued her parents she decided she should return the favor and help Tails.

Not much of a fighter and with no special abilities other than being able to lick her elbow (something Tails got a real kick out of) he would be forced to use her exclusively for gathering materials for the Tornado. At least until he could teach her how to handle herself in more dangerous situations.

Finally, when the moon reached its highest point in the sky Tails suggested that they get some sleep since they had a lot of work to do in the morning. They both laid down on the cold, hard dirt that lined the bottom of the cave and tried their best to get a good night's sleep.

Again Tails stood on dirt read in the middle of a large forest. The moment he recognized the dream he instantly sat down on the grass by the road refusing to move. He remembered the last time he had this dream he got into a fight with Sonic and he knew that following the road would only lead to disaster. That is until disaster came to him.

Out of nowhere a spinning blue ball tackled Tails and pinned him to the ground. Tails couldn't budge as the mouth of the hedgehog again moved like he was yelling but still not a sound was to be heard. Sonic raise one of his hands, curled it into a fist, and trusted it into Tails face. He began to hit Tails repeatedly until the fox tasted blood and felt like he had a terrible headache. Sonic stopped and Tails caught a glimpse of a tear leave the hedgehog's eye.

*Bang*

The world was consumed by a flash of white light and Tails awoke to find it was morning.

"Ugh. Am I going to get any rest ever again?"

Tails sat up and looked at his hands. They were shaking violently.

"Looks like you've seen your future." an ominous voice came from behind. "Doesn't look bright dose it?"

Cocoa walked up to Tails and put his hand on the fox's shoulders.

"Don't worry you've still got plenty of time before that happens."

"I'll stop it….I won't…"

Tails began to shake harder.

"Stop it? Ha you'll embrace your destiny when the time comes. But don't worry if you don't comply with your contract everyone you love will still die so stopping it won't help. In fact you might be able to save a few if you complete your contract without putting up a fuss and fighting it till the end."

"Why… Why do you have to tell me this? Why do I have to have these dreams?" Tails replied as the first tear fell from his eyes "why can't you just leave me alone."

"Because when the time comes you need to be physically and mentally ready to fight anyone and everyone who tries to stop you from completing your destiny, even if that means killing that meddling hedgehog."

"No…I could….I could never bring myself to fight let alone kill Sonic."

The tears where pouring from Tails' eyes.

Cocoa laughed, "With the enemies he has made… you won't have to."

With that last word he disappeared into the darkness of the cave leaving Tails alone with the still sleeping Sara.

Deciding he needed some fresh air and hoping to forget about his dream and Cocoa he exited the cave.

As Tails stepped outside the smell of fresh dew filled his nostrils. The sun had just begun to rise and most of the island was still asleep.

"Dwelling on Cocoa is not going to get me any closer to saving Sonic." He muttered wiping the last of his tears away. "I still have to save Westside before I can focus on dealing with that stupid contract."

He began to plan out his next move on defeating the BKA while Cocoa's words still lingered in his head.

Eventually he decided that he needed to wake Sara and discuses their next move.

He reentered the cave and walked up to Sara. He gently shook her on the shoulder.

"Hey Sara, it's time to get up. We have a lot of work to do today."

"Give me five more minutes."

This set Tails off.

"Five minutes are you crazy? Where stuck on an island occupied by homicidal birds looking to kill us! In five minutes we could be found, shot, and killed and you want to sleep in!"

Tails was in no mood to sit around waiting for her to finally wake up. After last night's dream and his encounter with Cocoa he just needed to get to work fighting the BKA.

"Alright alright I'm up." She said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Good because we have to get to work gathering the rest of the tornado."

"I thought we got all the scrap yesterday."

"It takes more than some metal to build an airplane that can go toe to toe with a flying warship."

"So…."

"So today were going to split up."

"WHAT!" Sara yelled losing the tired look from before.

"I need you to sneak into Metropolis and gather some tools from some of the factories. Mainly welding equipment but I could also use a slandered toolbox and maybe a power drill."

"And you think they will just let me walk in the front door!"

"No I'm going to help sneak you in and since you look like every other resident of the city you should be able to hide in plain sight… until you start caring around a bunch of tools that is."

"AND WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO THEN!?"

"Cary it to the top of one of the factories when I'm done I'll pick you up."

Tails voice was harsh and uncaring. He had too much going on to care about the fact he was sending his only friend on the island into a city filled with angry birds just looking for a fight.

"And just what are you going to be doing anyway." Sara replied spitefully.

She didn't know what was up with Tails but she didn't like it.

"Maybe he's just not a morning person" she thought, hoping it was nothing serious.

"I'm going to the Chemical plant to try and restore power to the mystic cave base. Then we can use its resources to work on the tornado.

They spent the next thirty minutes getting ready to head out to accomplish their tasks. Since the Chemical plant was just next to the industrial section of Metropolis Tails and Sara would not be separated for long.

Tails had no reason to worry about Sara. Gathering materials wouldn't involve confronting any soldiers, so she wouldn't be in too much danger.

After gathering everything they would need such as snacks, water, and a couple grenades they set out for the Metropolis zone. Most of the journey the two remained silent. Between Tails bad mood and the fact that the BKA could be anywhere just waiting to ambush them conversation was just a bad idea.

The forest was empty. The two foxes where alone as they walked past pine tree after pine tree. Only the occasional snap of a twig under their feet could be heard across the landscape. But as they marched on the trees began to disappear. Grass gave way to pavement and the world was filled with the noises of crying children the banging of metal and the yelling of soldiers.

At the entrance to the city there stood a large wall with soldiers patrolling along it carrying machine guns. Blood stained the pavement next to the wall, a warning to anyone who would challenge the armed men who marched along the wall.

Tails and Sara quickly ducked behind a burned out car before they could be seen.

"How do you plan to get me passed the wall?" Sara whispered nervously.

"You're going to climb up and walk right by them." Tails replied confidently.

"What!" Sara exclaimed in her loudest whisper.

"I'm going to cause a diversion so they won't notice you."

Sara wanted to tell Tails that his plan was crazy and that there is no way they would miss her when she was three feet away but Tails was already gone. He had jumped over the car and charged the wall head on.

The guards instantly took notice and began to fire at the fox. Sara sensing her cue began to approach the wall cautiously.

At any moment one of the Kukkus could spot her and shoot her. But Tails had their complete attention as he ran by the wall tossing grenades and yelling like a madman. She reached the wall and began to climb over when she heard Tails scream.

She looked to see the fox lying motionless in a pool of blood. The guards quickly jumped down off the wall and circled him. Sara stared at the scene motionless.

"Now look what you've done Tails." She muttered holding back tears.

*Bang*

The area where Tails laid was consumed in a flash of light.

The two-tailed Fox jumped out of the light and tossed a grenade in before he flew off.

*BOOM*

The guards lay motionless by the same pool of blood that Tails had used to pretend he had been shot.

Seeing Tails fly off sent a surge of confidence threw Sara. She climbed over the wall ready to face whatever lay ahead. Or at least she thought she was ready.

Tails flew a short ways off before landing at his own destination, an old Power plant that stored and used toxic chemicals to power the island before the attack. But now the building was empty and dangerous to go near. In the fighting many chemical vats where damaged and began leaking. Now most of the island ran of gas generators of old car batteries.

This wasn't Tails first time dealing with giant pool of acidic waste. In fact he had dealt with similar situations dozens of times.

The BKA was completely absent from the area, obviously incapable of dealing with the toxic chemicals.

"Well at least it's not like when Eggman attacked," Tails thought as he remembered running threw the plant with Sonic dodging both acid and bullets.

Tails entered the building hoping to find at least one intact generator that would just take restarting. But thing are never easy for the Two-Tailed Fox.

_Well… another chapter come and gone. I hope to update soon. Please favorite, review, Yadda Yadda Yadda. See you next time._


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello again here's chapter 6 of T:RTW Enjoy_

Chapter 6

The chemical plant was a wreck. A foul stench filled the air as Tails navigated around puddles of acid. The dead skeletons of rats lay scattered across the floor. They must have all been trying to escape the death trap that used to be their home.

"Talk about a rat race." he murmured.

After about five minutes of jumping around puddles he came to a large crater filled with a strange mix of chemicals that created a pinkish purple color. The crater separated Tails from a large hallway that led to the main control room. There would be no going around this obstacle.

For anyone else this would be a difficult gap to leap over but for Tails it was just another puddle to jump over. He whirled his tails around and rose up a few inches off the floor. He didn't want to catch the cobwebs on the ceiling in his ears. He'd done it once before and it wasn't a fun experience.

Not like there wasn't much fun to have in this giant chemical tomb.

He landed on the other side of the crater and now stood in a hallway filled with busted silver pained walls splattered with the blood of some unfortunate soul.

"It's like every where I turn someone is dying." He thought as he marched down the passageway.

No more large puddles blocked his path anymore. Only a few drops of acidic waste occasionally dripping from cracks in the ceiling warned the fox not to drop his guard.

When he reached the end of the hallway he reached a large shielded door that blocked his entry into the control room. The keypad to open the door was fried and useless.

The door was built to prevent any hazardous chemicals from reaching the computers that regulated the flow of power.

For a moment Tails stood there pondering how he was going to open the door. His bombs wouldn't dent it, the acid in the other rooms couldn't burn threw it, and the only way not to force it open was a destroyed keypad he didn't have the password to anyway.

He spent the next few minutes debating his course of action. Slowly becoming more aware of the fact he was endangering both himself and Sara who by now must have gathered all the gear and was now waiting on him.

After about ten minutes the genius fox was stumped. He was about to turn around and give up on his mission when he heard something behind the door.

"Is he gone yet?" a child voice spoke.

"_SHHHH!"_

Realizing he hadn't been alone all this time he called out, "Hello? Is someone in there?" Tails didn't know why he asked that last part he already heard the voices.

"No!" The child's voice yelled.

"_SHHHH!"_

"I'm not here to hurt you I just need to figure out how to restore power."

"I don't care why you're here," replied the child's mother "I won't do anything to endanger my Billy"

"Why are they always names Billy" Tails wondered as he tried to figure out what to say to convince them he wasn't a threat.

"Listen my name is Miles Prower. You know Tails, the guy who hangs with Sonic, used to live here, you can trust me."

"Two-tail? You…you're back….but I thought we…. NO! How do I know this isn't a trick?"

Now recognizing the voice Tails knew just what to say.

"Your name is Mrs. Pearson, your husband works here in the chemical plant and last I saw you where three months pregnant."

No reply.

"You are the first grade teacher at Emerald Academy"

Nothing.

Tails was getting impatient.

"You used to throw your garbage at me when I asked for food at lunch and you just watched as the other kids picked on me."

Still Tails heard no reply.

"After all you and everyone else put me through the worst imaginable childhood imaginable I risked my life to save your sorry butt and even then you refused to even look me in the eye.

The memories that now flooded his mind finally caused him to snap.

"I SAVED YOU AND YOU STILL CONIDER ME INFERIOUR! AND NOW HERE I AM AGAIN RISKING MY LIFE FOR YOU UNGEATFUL COWARDS WHO ONLY EVER RUN AND HIDE FROM THEIR PROBLEMS!"

"I….I didn't look you in the eye that day…because….Because I was Ashamed!" a teary voice from behind the door finally responded.

This stopped Tails in his tracks. Water began to accumulate in his eyes as she continued.

"I…I just couldn't believe that someone would…. Would risk their own lives to save someone they must've hated. I didn't look down on you… I… I looked up to you…. You looked just like your father after the war…

For a moment the world was silent. Never in Tails' life has anyone ever even mentioned his family to him unless it was to remind him he was alone. It was too much for the fox and the water gates in his eyes opened.

"And then you just up and left like him to!" Anger suddenly filled her voice. "You disappeared and never told us where or why! You left a nation in ruins just like your father left you and your dying mother!"

"I…I…"

"It doesn't matter." She sighed "You're here now and obviously not to hurt us."

The great door opened revealing an Orange cat with solid blue eyes and her kitten that sat on the cement floor staring at the ceiling oblivious to what had just taken place.

Tails entered the room quietly. No one spoke a word; the whole situation was just too awkward for any conversation.

Tails walked up to the main computes as Mrs. Pearson shut the door as quietly as possible.

The computer had miraculously been untouched by the devastation that even the sealed room had suffered. The walls had cracks running up the sides and shattered glass lay in a pile to the side of the room in a blocked off area where the young kitten couldn't reach.

Blocking out the dialogue that just took place Tails began to type on the keyboard looking for a way to send power to the old military base hidden in the Mystic cave. Most of the files he found on the cave where password protected and impossible to crack. He spent the next fifteen minutes typing in random words into the grey box on the monitor that asked for the password.

Eventually boredom set in and he began to enter nonsense that could never be the password.

Sonic

_Access denied_

Emeralds

_Access denied_

NiGHTS

_Access denied_

Tails

_Access denied_

Miles Prower

_Password accepted._

"WHAT!" Tails exclaimed in shock breaking the silence that had remained unbroken since the fox entered.

"What is it?" Mrs. Pearson asked sounding a bit scared.

"The…password….is….my name…."

"Well that's odd." She sighed in relief. She was afraid that Tails had caused a meltdown or somehow alerted the BKA to their hideout.

"But…why…"

"Probably because your father set that password before you were born."

"My…father…" The word father seemed to foreign to him. The closest thing he had ever experienced to family was Sonic. Curiosity consumed him. He wanted to ask why his father would be setting the password. Why was his father never in his life? Why…Why…Why….

So many things he wanted to ask but fear held him back. He didn't know why he was afraid. He spent most of his life thinking his parents ran off on him. So why should being told its true matter.

Pearson was shocked to see Tails turn back to the monitor and continue working without ever even acknowledging she had just mentioned that father he never met twice.

The silence resumed and Tails spent the next five minutes typing strange codes into the computer. Finally he looked up and turned towards the door.

"Thank you" was all he said as he walked towards the door, opened it, and left.

"What a strange boy" she thought as she shut the door and returned her attention to her son. "BILLY, DON'T EAT THAT!"

Tails proceeded to exit the way he came. His father was still lingering in his mind. Maybe he should have asked Mrs. Pearson after all. He knew it may have been the only chance he would ever get to learn about why he grew up an orphan on the streets of Metropolis begging for food.

"Man! First the Battle Kukku army attacks, then Cocoa returns, Sonic's in danger, and now my father! Why is all of this happening at once?"

"You'll see soon enough" Cocoa said as he appeared out of thin air by Tails' side.

"What is it with you and being all mysterious about everything?" Tails responded ignoring Cocoa's unusual entrance.

"Well if I just told you everything I might as well do your job while I'm at it."

"I think you're on to something there."

"Funny" Cocoa replied in his usual monotone voice.

They walked out of the building and into the radiant sunlight.

"So why are you here anyway?" Tails asked

"I just want to see the look on your face."

"The look on my face…. What do you mea…"

Tails was interrupted by an announcement from the BKA's flying warship.

An Image of Battle Kukku the fifteenth appeared on the large screen, "Hello again, runt. I see you've chosen not only to stay but to get involved in something that isn't your business. So now you must suffer the consequences of your actions. We picked up your little girlfriend trying to make off with OUR tools as well as some other unfortunate folk from around Metropolis. In thirty minutes we are going to kill them in the middle of town square. And the best part is the whole city will be there to watch. Of course if you where to show up and…oh I don't know…Take their place. Maybe we'll let them live."

Tails was flabbergasted. They had Sara and where going to kill her. He should have known better than to sent her into the lion's den alone. And all those innocent people… It seems like he's done more harm than good for the people of Westside.

"Tick tock little fox, tick tock." The message ended.

"Well well" Cocoa laughed "seems like you got a little too close to that girl. Probably not the best Idea to be making friends when everyone you care about is going to die pretty soon."

Tails ignored Cocoa and took off in a full sprint towards the barricade separating Metropolis from the rest of the island.

"If it's not one thing it's another," he thought.

_Hope you enjoyed this …yeah I say the same thing after every chapter so you know the deal. Please review so I know you are enjoying my story and so you can tell me what to improve on, or PM me that works too. Just no hazing please. See you next time._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"It's a trap," Tails thought as he stared at the scene below. He was flying over a massive park that sat outside the old court building in the town center. A large crowd filled the entire park masking the dead grass from his view. Six soldiers stood on each side of the multitude except the rear of the crowed where only two guards marched back and forth.

The entire crowd faced the court building where a small, rugged stage had been slapped together. On the stage seven people stood tied to poles jetting out of the stage. In front of them, there stood a green bird wearing a red scarf and aviator goggles.

"Speedy."

Only about five minutes had passed since the broadcast so Tails was in no rush to make his move. He observed every detail and had found the set up to be suspicious. Why would they leave Speedy alone onstage, or only station two guards behind the crowd where he could easily slip in and hide?

The answer could only mean one thing. Tails glanced at one of the nearby buildings and smiled.

"They got a sniper watching their backs."

Tails quickly flew over and landed on top of the building he had spotted the sniper in.

It was an old brick hotel that must date back at least fifty years. It probably was once one of the largest hotels in Metropolis but now it was a rundown building that hadn't been used in years. The bricks had faded to a light pinkish color and where beginning to crack. Windows were smashed out and graffiti covered the sides of the building.

Tails didn't have to even look for a way inside as an enormous hole in the roof allowed for easy entry. The fox landed in a cobweb covered hall with peeling wallpaper and a torn up rug lying on the floor. The only light came from the opening in the roof and the broken windows. He began to search for some stairs knowing that the sniper was two floors down.

When he found the stairs he caught a glimpse of a thin string about three inches off the ground that stretched from one wall to the other. A tripwire.

"They sure aren't taking any risks," he thought' "I better hurry up and rescue Sara and the others before time runs out."

He twirled his Tails and lifted off a few inches off the ground. He flew down the stairs to the floor he had identified the sniper on and landed just outside the room his target was in.

He snuck in as quietly as possible and stood only a foot away from a cerulean bird staring though a rifle scope at the rabble below.

Tails rammed a fist into the side of the sniper's head knocking him to the side and causing him to drop his rifle. The bird recovered from the blow and swung his fists at the fox. Tails promptly took flight to dodge the attacks.

Tails stopped spinning his namesake and dropped with his foot extended and aimed at the snipers face.

_Wham! _

The kick found its mark laving an unconscious bird lying helplessly on the floor next to the rotting walls.

Tails picked up the sniper rifle the bird dropped and for a second considered using it.

"It would be an easy way to eliminate Speedy." He thought.

But in the end Tails decided not to use the rifle. The bolt action would prevent him from killing the guards who would undoubtedly and without hesitation fire both on the hostages and the audience if Speedy where attacked.

"The old fashioned way it is." He said, tossing the rifle away.

Tails existed the building though the window and landed just out of view of the patrolling guards behind the crowd. When nether of the guards where looking he ran into the horde of animals that were too busy watching the scene before them to notice the Two-tailed fox join their ranks.

He then waited for the two guards to meet in the center of their patrol when he leaped out and shoved their heads together. The guards fell to the ground and Tails drug their limp bodies into the mass of people.

He began to navigate the mob as he made his way to each of the guards as he knocked each one unconscious, pulled them into the crowed, and he made his way towards the stage.

Only a few people noticed him but they never spent more than a few seconds starring before their attention promptly returned to the hostages. If the guards knew their target was hiding in the crowd they wouldn't hesitate to kill everyone between them and the fox.

Eventually all the guards were out of the picture as they lay unnoticed by the feet of the helpless onlookers.

With Five minutes left before the execution Tails felt confident. He decided that he should have some fun with Speedy since his trap was now eliminated. Tails removed the uniform of one of the soldiers and put it on. The large two-tone camouflage shirt was too big for him and the jet black helmet nearly obscured his vision completely. Only a fool would mistake him for one of the Kukkus. But it sure would make a sight to see.

"Probably be the talk of the island long after this is all said and done." He chuckled completely forgetting the direness of the situation.

He exited the crowed and marched up onto stage where Speedy had spent the entire time ranting about how great he and his father's army was. Speedy was too distracted by his speech to notice the poorly dressed, mutant fox walking towards him. But the entire crowd saw and instantly they forgot the dangerous situation they were in and began to snicker.

Tails was a few feet from the still oblivious Speedy when he remembered the trip wire by the stairwell. They had even taken precautions to protect the sniper, and this was the son of Fifteen himself.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea" he thought as a rope that had been laying in wait on the stage floor wrapped around his foot. The rope lifted Tails off his feet and hung him upside down in front of everyone.

The Hemet fell off and his tails hanged down by his face.

"Now you've done it" he mumbled realizing how stupid he must look.

The snickering stopped as Speedy turned to Tails with an unsurprised look on his face as he addressed his visitor.

"I was wondering when you were going to stop by freak."

Tails remained silent as he wondered how he was going to get out of this one.

"You should see the look on your face" The Green bird lifted a revolver from a holster on his belt and aimed it between Tails eyes. "And to think you could have killed me when you took out my sniper. I guess you where just too much of a pansy to actually kill someone."

"What and miss out on beating the snot out of you again?" Tails retaliated trying to hide the fear behind his eyes.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint but we need you dead so you won't get a chance to fight back this time."

"Why do I have a feeling that we means more than you and your feathery friends."

"You think we would go through all this trouble to kill you out of revenge. No our clients want you dead, what we want….what's the point in telling you your about to die.

Speedy pulled back on the firing pin, as the crowed held their breath waiting to see what would happen next.

_BANG_

The rope tied Tails' leg snapped causing him to fall through the stage onto the grass below. Above him a hole in the sheet metal let the light in.

Outside he could hear the3 roar of the crowed and Speedy yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Shot the floor! Shoot the floor!"

Other soldiers must have come onstage after he fell.

Bullets began to rain down. Realizing how easy it was to fall through the floor Tails decided to fly back up threw it. He positioned himself below where he thought the hostages where. Then he spun his tails and leapt up smashing a new hole in the stage. In the confusion his attackers where too caught up with shooting to realize their target was now behind them.

Taking his chance he untied the hostages who except for Sara ran into the crowed that quickly swallowed them up. Tails then took Sara by the arm and ran off stage as Speedy caught sight of him and began to shout new orders.

Tails ran into the city with Sara as more birds began to pursue them.

"Are you Crazy what were you thinking back there?" Sara yelled as they ran.

"Nice to see you're ok!" Tails laughed sarcastically.

They ran out of the city, bullet whizzing by their heads the whole time, and found themselves in the Green hill zone with half the BKA hot on their heels.

They changed direction often hoping to avoid revealing their destination but their pursuers only seemed to get closer as the crimson sun began to fall from the sky.

"Man they sure don't give up easy." Sara panted as the exhausted Foxes continued running.

"I don't think we can stay ahead much longer."

Tails needed to think of something quick of they would wind up Swiss cheese. He couldn't run away much longer and a fight would be suicidal.

"Think… Think… Think!"

Every step he could take in the next five minutes played threw his head. Everything he knew about his environment, his enemies, and even himself gave him only one solution.

He would have to sacrifice Sara to get away.

"No! I've already almost gotten her killed once today." He shook the previous thought from his head.

Suddenly he heard a familiar voice in his head. "Jump in the rose bush to your left."

Having no other ideas to go on he grabbed the horrified Sara and leaped into the bush.

"Where did he go" Asked one of the Soldiers.

"He's in that bush you dimwit." Speedy yelled

Hearing that Tails prepared to jump out and continue running when the same voice spoke again saying, "Don't move."

Tired, Tails looked into Sara's eyes. They were filled with terror as she realized they were done running away. Thorns from the blood red roses jabbed into their sides as they sat uncomfortably awaiting their doom.

Footsteps approached them as sweat dripped down their faces. Their hearts beat so hard that Speedy must be able to hear it as he neared. Finally the steps stopped in front of the bush and Tails clenched his fists.

"So this is it." He thought making the decision to go down fighting.

The leaves rustled as they were pulled back revealing the feathery, olive green face of Speedy.

Tails was about to thrust his fist into the bird when he noticed Speedy's confused look.

"I swore they were in here." He muttered before letting go of the braches he held, letting the leaves return to their place. "Fan out they couldn't have gotten too far."

The footsteps of the soldiers soon became faint as they began their search.

Tails looked at Sara to see the same confused look on her face as was his. He wondered how Speedy could have missed them. And whose voice had told him to hide there. It wasn't Cocoa's and in fact it sounded feminine.

Then it hit him.

"C-c-cos-mo" he stuttered.

_Man I got this one finished quick. But when you're too sick to go to school and have nothing better to do what would you expect. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to update soon.:) _


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello everyone. This chapter took a lot longer than I had hoped but here it is. I hope you like it._

Chapter 8

The walk back to the cave was a quiet one. Tails was lost in thought and Sara was still recovering from her near death experience. But as they walked a dark shadowy figure lurked behind them, in his hand was an unusual gun.

Careful not to make a noise and alert the two he shadowed them as they solemnly walked. "Looks like its time… wish me luck old friend." The figure whispered in his heart as he continued to trail the unsuspecting couple.

When the two foxes reached the cave they found it completely different than when they left. A great light could be seen down the mouth of the entrance. As they entered and reached the light the walls turned from brown rock to grey steel and the floor was now completely made of cement.

The two foxes stood there for a minute taking in the new environment.

"So this is what you were doing in the power plant." Sara said breaking the silence that had endured their entire walk.

"Yup," Was Tails only reply.

Before them lay a hallway that cut miles in to the mountain. Doorways stood every few meters on both sides, each labeled something like: Barracks #001, Armory #214, and First aid #026.

Normally they would spend the night exploring the labyrinth but exhausted from the day's events they instinctively walked into the barracks room, found a bed, and hit the sack.

For a few minutes Tails lay in the bed wondering about Cosmo.

"Was that really her? I think that was her voice but… she's dead…I pulled the trigger myself and there is no way she could have…."

Tails noticed his right hand was shaking violently.

"I killed her with that very hand…. Why would she help me after what I did?"

"Because I wanted you to do it."

Next to Tails bed sat an apparition of Cosmo.

Tails nearly leapt out of the old cot but his weary body refused to move.

"C…Cosmo so it…really was you?"

"Of course it's me silly."

"But how did you…with the soldiers…and the bushes."

"It's a gift. Whenever you need a place to hide find a tree or a bush and conceal yourself. Your enemies will never see you even when they are only inches from you."

"Thank…Thank you" Tears began to form in his eyes. For years the fox had thought Cosmo hated him for pulling the trigger but now…

"It's the least I can do. After all you sacrificed for me, I'm happy to return the favor."

The vision faded leaving Tails alone. A smile formed on his face as he closed his eyes.

"Goodbye Cosmo"

"_RUUUNNNNGH"_

"What?" Tails sat up and looked at Sara

"_RUUUNNNNGH!"_

"Great and I thought Knuckles snored loud."

For the first time in a long time since he arrived on Westside Tails didn't awake from some horrible nightmare. When dawn broke, he sat up and looked over at the still snoring Sara. He chuckled a little and climbed out of the cot. He left the room and returned to the mouth of the cave. But when he exited the cave he saw something that froze him in place.

He stood there for a few minutes before a bed headed Vixen joined his side. Tails didn't even notice her arrive, his eyes didn't even twitch.

"What are you looking at?" She asked looking over towards where Tails was starring. "OH MY GOD!"

From where they stood they could barely see the city of Metropolis, Flames where engulfing the city's massive skyscrapers and factories. Every few moments an explosion would blast into a building. Yet where they stood, at the safety of their cave, they felt so safe.

"How could they…" Sara began.

"You think they would just let us walk away?"

"What do you mean?"

"If people see us fighting against the BKA and winning they are going to get bold and start fighting as well, to keep that from happening the BKA is willing to do anything…. Its not the first time I've seen this happen."

"Can we do anything?"

"No, If we get involved than we'll only make it worse for them."

Tails turned and walked back into the cave without another word. Sara stood for another second looking at her old home burning to the ground before turning to follow Tails.

The two decided to explore the cave, hoping to find some tools to use to begin the Tornado since Sara lost her tools when she was captured.

They traveled down corridor after corridor through the maze that had been cut into the earth. Tails began to recognize the areas he and Sonic ran through during Eggman's invasion, only this time light revealed the secrets that he and his hero missed on that adventure. As they marched on, traps began to appear as bottomless abysses, tripwires, and one pesky punji pit that an unprepared explorer would fall into if he didn't pull a certain switch in time.

But as time passed and they traveled deeper into the core of the island the familiarity faded and Tails began to wonder how they were going to get back to the entrance.

"We should have used bread crumbs or something." He thought as they walked passed a room labeled Early warning radar and sonar systems.

After a few more minutes of walking Tails began to sense someone was following them. He glanced at Sara who hadn't said a word since she saw the flames rising from Metropolis; her whole body was trembling as she walked.

"If I tell her we're about to have another fight she'll probably have a nervous breakdown. I need to deal with this guy when she isn't looking. I guess I'll have to find something to keep her distracted." He thought.

On a whim he turned down another corridor and began to search for something to send Sara to do to keep her occupied. But unlike any of the other halls this one didn't have any doors leading to miscellaneous rooms. The walls where cracked and covered with mold. For a moment Tails thought he had found an unwanted exit but didn't dare turn around and face their pursuer.

They marched down the cobweb filled passageway until they reached a large round room the size of a football stadium and it reached up to the surface and down at least three floors below. The walls where made of Solid steel and catwalks connected the levels of the room. In the center of it all stood a giant metal spear with the face of a mustached man painted over the letters WS.

Tails stared in awe.

"Is that what I think I…." Sara finally spoke up.

"An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, carrying at least six different nuclear bombs with laser guided technology, and capable of placing each bomb within a few centimeters of its intended target. Made by the Westside Army sometime before they disbanded, and it looks like Eggman found it."

Tails never felt comfortable around weapons of this size but he made it a point to understand them inside and out. After Tails prevented Eggman from trying to destroy Station Square with an ICBM, he spent hours poring over books learning about Weapons of mass destruction, and more importantly how to disarm them.

Forgetting about their follower they just sat there trying to understand how and when it was built.

Suddenly, a door on the bottom level of the room opened and the two took cover. Three figures entered, quarrelling amongst each other.

Tails motioned to Sara to stay put as he spun his tails and left to get a closer look.

He landed on the catwalk just above the three and began to observe them.

The first one was a Green bird who Tails quickly identified as the leader of the BKA. The second was a bald, plump man in a red jacket and had a long orange mustache.

"Eggman"

The third man was hard to see in the lighting but Tails could see he was an older man in a military dress uniform much like the ones GUN officers wear.

Tails was about to make a move when Several BKA soldiers entered the room, each carrying an assault rifle.

"You let him just walk away!" Eggman yelled, "Do you realize how far your blunders are setting us back? We can't risk him contacting Sonic and spoiling our plan."

"He doesn't know our plan!" The Kukku bird shouted in his defense.

"And how long until he does? If he finds out about the fact I've invaded the United Federation he's bound to figure out the connection between our attacks."

Tails grinned. "Thanks for the tip Doc" he thought as they walked up to the missile.

The third man, speaking for the first time, said "If you can't fulfill your part of the bargain than I don't see a reason to give you the codes to this beauty."

"I just need some more time. We had him for a moment but someone intervened and allowed for him to escape."

"Of course someone intervened you told the entire city your plan." Eggman shouted

"And you wouldn't have done the same? You're worse than I am Egghead."

"Stop it both of you. The only reason for invading this island was to kill Tails and if worst comes to worst than we just waste the place. But until it gets that bad I say we move on with our part of the plan and let bird brain here deal with the fox."

The three turn around and continued arguing as they exited the room followed by their escorts leaving the Tails lost in thought.

"So the BKA is in league with Eggman. I guess it makes since, Eggy invades the Federation distracting GUN from the incident on Westside. But who was that other guy, he seems familiar."

After a minute of thought Tails couldn't identify the uniformed man. Giving up he flew back to Sara who was sitting on the floor shivering.

"You ok?"

"Yeah it's…it's just cold in here."

"Ok well head back outside in a minute, but first could you go down there and see if there's anything useful we can use for the tornado?"

"O…OK" she said getting up from the ground. "But what will you be doing"

Just making sure we won't have any more surprises on the way back" Tails replied.

He had remembered that they were being followed and decided to use this chance to deal with stranger.

Sara headed down a flight of stairs leaving Tails alone.

"You can come out now"

From the dark stepped a German shepherd in his about late thirties. He wore a leather jacket, jungle camouflage pants, and solid black combat boots. On his head he wore a Navy blue beret. In his hands he carried a strange looking Sub-machine gun, which was pointed at Tails face.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tails studied his threat. He was different from the enemies he had been fighting the last couple days (for obvious reasons). Apart from being different species his eyes instantly told Tails this was no amateur he was facing. Part of his left ear was missing from what must've been a bullet come within inches of killing him, his eyes where cold and fearless, and his fangs snarled at the fox mercilessly.

But aside from being a hardened veteran something bothered Tails about this Dog. He obviously wasn't with Eggman or the BKA.

"Maybe he's working for the other guy I saw down there," Tails thought realizing this was his chance to learn the identity of the uniformed man, "Even his attire fits the bill."

After a few seconds of sizing his opponent up the fox finally spoke up in a mocking voice, "You left the safety on."

With those words Tails lunged at the intruder and began wildly throwing punches hoping to catch the dog of balance. But to the fox's surprise the dog dropped his weapon to the ground and began to bob and parry his way out of each attack. Tails continued to advance as be began to push the German shepherd down the hall, each attack growing fiercer. Tails contemplated using one of his precious explosives but knowing he would alert Sara and killing someone he wanted to interrogate was stupid, he continued his attacks.

But after he pushed the dog a few feet something happened. In a blur of hands and feet Tails suddenly was thrown back onto the floor. Tails landed hard on his butt and the pain jolted threw his body.

"How did he…?"

The dog just stood there staring into the fox's soul. He had a slightly disappointed look on his face as he motioned for Tails to stand back up.

"Guess I need to be more careful next time," The young fox thought.

Standing back up he suddenly realized something was off. His opponent, a skilled fighter, attacked with the safety on his gun, and now after beating him to the ground made no attempt to reclaim the weapon or restrain him on the ground.

"Is he toying with me or does he…"

The thought was interrupted by a massive sidekick to the gut, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him back on the cement floor.

Again Tails hit hard on his butt, but this time with a smirk on his face.

Tails staggered back to his feet and raised his hands up by his face like he watched Knuckles do every time the crimson echidna got into a fight. Tails advanced forward weary of taking another kick to the stomach. Once the fox was in punching rage he began to throw the same punches as he did before but this time he paid close attention to his foe's movements. Again Tails pushed the dog back a few feet as he waited for the right opening.

"This time you're going to be the one on the ground." He thought

Suddenly the dog parried one of Tails punches and the fox saw his chance.

"I only have a fraction of a second to pull this off."

Instead of retracting his fist he pushed his momentum forward as jumped up and planted his arm on the ground. Standing on one hand he maneuvered his tails behind the dog's knees as he shifted his hips and aimed a hook kick at his enemy's face. With one quick scissoring motion he snapped his legs forward and his tails back thrusting the dog to the ground. The impact with the ground made a loud and somewhat satisfying thud. Tails finished the incredible move by flipping his body and landing on his feet facing away from the attacker.

"I am going to remember that one." He laughed turning around expecting to see the dog unconscious where he landed.

But what he got was another gun to the face. This time it was a pistol, and the Safety was off.

"Almost had me there," the dog smirked as blood poured from his nose. "But you can't win,"

"Is that so," The unfazed fox grinned, "You leave the safety on your first gun, wait until now to use your second gun, and waited for me to recover from your attacks in the middle of the fight? I think this isn't about winning or losing. So tell me, why are you here?"

"I guess I should have expected this," The dog sighed as he lowered his weapon and returned it to his holster,"I'm here to keep a promise I made to my old Commanding officer before he disappeared. "

"So I take it you aren't with the man I saw in the room with the large missile."

"Someone was in the missile room!" The dog's expression changed. Suddenly he ran down the hall and into the large room scaring Sara who was returning empty handed from her errand.

"Oh my god Shep, what are you doing here?" The frightened vixen nearly wet herself.

"Who was in here? I need to…" The dog fell silent as he noticed the painting of Eggman's face on the missile. "I knew we should have destroyed this long ago." He murmured in defeat.

"It's not too late," Tails said entering the room. "I have had experience disarming weapons like this before."

"That doesn't matter. Without the codes this bomb cannot be disarmed. And to think this was once the pride of the WSA."

"Just who are you anyway?" Tails asked.

"I am Technical Sergeant John A. Sheppard of The Westside Army's elite guard. I'm surprised Sara hasn't told you about me. I am the one who helped her gather all that scrap metal the other day."

"So let me get this straight," Tails began ignoring the statement about helping Sara, "you're a German shepherd and your name is Shepherd. That sounds a little cliché if you asked me."

"If I had a dollar…."The dog mumbled.

After the dog finished introducing himself he, knowing his way around the caves, led the two to workshop #08 where they could begin working on the tornado as well as taking the back to the entrance for some fresh air. When they stepped outside the smoke from metropolis had subsided and from what they could tell only about half of the city was severely damaged.

They made a small fire and cooked some food as they learned about the history of the missile and the WSA.

About forty years ago Westside removed its support to the international defense initiative referred to as GUN, oddly enough after a GUN veteran became the leader of the island. The reason a he wanted out of GUN was never revealed but when GUN never attempted to prevent the Island from leaving many conspiracy theories arose around the event including one about a massacre in space.

For a long time GUN and Westside ignored each other's existence until twenty years ago when GUN launched an unprovoked attack on the island. According to the GUN charter the organization cannot attack another nation without the nations supporting the organization voting to do so. However, this invasion was never voted on, so to prevent word of the attack leaking out all communications from the island where cut. Without any way to request help or aid from any foreign powers the small militia was overwhelmed by GUN's superior army.

That is until a young lieutenant organized a small guerrilla force that cut the fuel supply to the forces advancing on Metropolis. Without fuel for their vehicles the soldiers set out on foot to continue their advance. That's when the lieutenant took the vehicles fueled them up and chased down the advancing troops. He caught them just as they began their siege outside the walls of the city and he sandwiched them in there. The lieutenant lost his left eye when he clashed sabers with the soldier who led the attack on the island, however in the end the soldiers surrendered and, after restoring communications, he exposed both GUN's unprovoked attack and their humiliating defeat with a live TV broadcast to the world, where he demanded a large sum of money be paid for damages and for rebuilding the islands defenses. GUN nearly went extinct after the conspiracy got out and many countries withdrew support from the organization.

With the money in war reparations and a promotion the new General built up the island's army and began building the missile to deter any further attacks. The General was proclaimed a war hero and led the nation's military until he mysteriously disappeared 11 years ago.

The three sat around the diming fire as the moon rose into the night sky. Tails and Sara where intrigued by the story and couldn't help but wonder why they never learned about his part of their history.

"So why did GUN invade Westside in the first place?" Tails asked

"Didn't you listen I said there was no motive behind the attack." Shepherd Replied.

"Yeah but… no one just goes to war for no reason… "

"I guess they wanted revenge for us leaving the organization."Shepherd sighed

"I don't buy it. If they didn't want Westside to leave they would have done something sooner instead of waiting 20 years."

"Does it really matter?" Sara chimed in, "Why they attacked doesn't mean a thing because we aren't fighting GUN. In fact we rejoined GUN after the army disbanded."

"I guess you're right." Tails moaned. Normally he wasn't too big on history but something about this story seemed important for some reason.

After a moment of silence the two-tailed fox spoke up again. "So what was this promise you came here to keep anyway?"

Shepherd hesitated for a second before he replied. "You made your deal with Cocoa right?"

"How…How do you know about that?"

"Because when you were born the General planed for you to make the contract with him."

"He planed?"

"What are you two talking about" Sara asked.

Ignoring her, the two continued.

"Do you remember how you found the Cocoa Island? Or even how you got there?"

"I remember this…note I found with a map."

"Found? You mean I gave it to you. From the moment you were born I was tasked with insuring you where mentally and physically ready to take and complete that deal."

"What…so you're supposed to train me or something?"

"Sort of, the General wanted me to teach you a fighting style he created after the war that focused on exploiting numerous weaknesses in your adversaries."

"What?"

"Ever play a video game where the boss is completely invulnerably except for in one area?"

"Yeah I usually have trouble beating those guys, because they only have one spot to defend."

"Imagine that one boss having at least a dozen weak spots all over his body.

"Then they wouldn't be that hard to beat," The fox grinned realizing where this was going.

"Exactly! The purpose of fighting you today was so I could understand how much of this concept you already understand, and with that little trick you pulled I would say you understand a great deal already. Probably because of all that time you spent fighting the Egghead's creations with Sonic."

The two discussed this new training plan while Sara sat confused about what they were talking about. After a while she tuned out their bizarre conversation and she began to wonder something about Shepherd.

"When he talked about that contract thing he mentioned that General character planning for Tails to make some deal. But why pick Tails? Was it because of the second tail? But how would he know about that?" Something was off and she knew Shepherd was keeping secrets from them. Secrets she was determined to find out.

After a few more minutes outside the cold air convinced the trio to return to the mystic cave and call it a day. Tomorrow they planned to begin work on the tornado and Tails was going to start his training with Shepherd.

As Tails lay down on his cot, he couldn't help but think Shepherd. "He must have really liked that General for him to want to be near me after I made that contact. Just being my friend could get you killed right now." The fox looked over at Sara who was lying in a cot a few feet away. "Maybe I shouldn't have let her help me, I would really hate for her to die because of me." With that last thought he slipped out of consciousness.

Tails opened his eyes and he stood in a dirt road surrounded by thousands of pine trees. He looked up at the overcast sky and couldn't help but shed a tear.

_Well there you go chapter 9 of T RTW. I stayed up till 2:00am writing this one (mostly because I couldn't get to sleep) so it probably isn't my best chapter but I still hope you enjoy it. Please reveiw_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Tails usually didn't have problems getting up early but today Shepherd woke him up at 3am and instantly began rushing the fox though the dark halls of the Mystic cave. Shepherd had him sprinting down the corridors yelling, "You call that running!" "I didn't tell you to slow down!" "Pick it up!" And "I'm not even tired yet!"And other pointless comments about his pace. In reality Tails was leaving the dog behind and he wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Finally they reached a room labeled "Combat simulation 1" and they stepped inside. Shepherd began describing the rules of some training exercise but Tails was too tired to pay attention. He just wanted to crawl back into his cot and go to sleep.

_YAWN!_

"Did you hear a word I just said?" The dog glared at Tails realizing he was being ignored.

"Nope" The fox responded in a tired, uninterested voice.

Shepherd sighed and repeated the rules of the fight with a grin on his face. "Never ignore the Sergeant" he thought.

"You are going against 12 robotic training dummies; they all have twelve weak points spread across the body ranging from soft spots to pressure points. An enemy will only be defeated once a weakness is exploited, however once you exploit a weakness on one opponent the remaining drones will no longer be affected by that weakness. You will go until ether all the dummies are defeated or you are unable to fight."

Tails stared at the dog with a blank expression, bags still under his eyes. "Well at least it won't be that hard," he thought "I'm an expert with machines so these 'weaknesses' will be too obvious."

Shepherd stepped out of the room and Tails looked around. He was in a large circular room with padded floors and walls. The lighting was dim and Tails could barely make out the twelve figures standing lifelessly around him. They where humanoid robots, not to different from the ones Eggman uses. They had an olive green paint job and had armor plating covering most of their bodies.

"Step into the center of the room when you're ready." Shepherd's voice echoed from an intercom on the ceiling.

Tails stepped forward as the lights slowly grew brighter. Once Tails stood directly in the center the lights where illuminating the entire room.

"Ugh why couldn't he have left the lights the way they were" He thought as the light blinded his sleepy eyes. "Just great," he muttered, "waking me up early in the morning, yelling like some drill instructor, combat simulations, all this needs is some cheesy 80s music and where ready for a montage."

"Oh before we begin," Shepherd again spoke on the intercom, "I think this will help you wake up."

Eye of the tiger began to echo across the room.

Tails ears dropped, "I had to open my big mouth didn't I."

"Ready…. Go!"

Suddenly the dummies came to life and began to attack the two-tailed fox. For a moment Tails panicked having been distracted by the cliché music but quickly found his footing and began to focus on the attacking drones.

Jumping out of the middle where the robots had tried to surround him he landed on the back of one of the robots and began to analyze the robot's armor. But right as he found an off-switch of all things, another robot slammed its fist into the robot Tails was riding. Tails was knocked off and landed on his feet a few feet from the two robots. The robot he had been clinging to was on the ground motionless while the other charged Tails again.

"At this rate I won't even be break a sweat." He chuckled as he jumped moments before the other robot attacked, landed on its back and flipped the off switch.

Tails turned to face the other robots. They appeared to have organized and lined up side by side. They stood there waiting for Tails to make a move. For a moment the only sound to be heard was the stereotypical fight music in the background as they stared each other down. Tails began to notice that the left arm on each robot wasn't as armored as the right.

"Guess I know where I'm aiming next." Tails thought as he formed a plan of attack. Suddenly the robots charged catching him of guard. Unable to jump in time one of the robots was successful at hitting Tails with a punch. Tails staggered from the blow as the robot tried to land a second hit. But Tails dodged the blow and snagged the extended left arm. Turning his hips and pulling with all his might he ripped the metal arm from its socket.

The dummy collapsed to the ground but before Tails could begin searching for another weakness he was surrounded by four robots one on each side. Tails tried to jump out of the gauntlet but one of the robots snagged his leg and pulled him back into their trap. The fox realizing he couldn't escape the trap kicked the robot in front of him while lifting his tails behind him. Spinning around as fast as he could the fox became a powerful tornado of legs and tails. The robots where knocked away but not defeated.

"Looks like I didn't hit a weak spot that time. This maybe harder than I thought."

Sara slowly picked herself up from her cot. "Hey where did those two go?" She thought as she rubbed her eyes. "That's right; they were talking about that training last night, I bet that's where they are."

For a moment she contemplated trying to find them but realizing that they must be deep inside the cave and not knowing her way around down there, decided against it.

She sat on her cot for a moment wondering what she should do. "Maybe I should just go back to bed. After all, it can't be past seven."

Laying back on her cot something caught her eye. By the bed where Shepherd slept sat a small duffel bag with the dog's name printed on it.

"I bet I can figure out what that contract was they were talking about last night if I took a peak at what's inside." She grinned hoping to learn the secret she couldn't get of her head the night before.

"Nine…."

Another robot charged Tails as the fox's last victim collapsed on the ground. The boy dodged the attack and found himself behind his target. Sweat poured from his face as took hold of a loose piece of armor on the robots began to bend it backwards eventually the internal machinery revealed itself to Tails.

With a quick glance he identified his target, reached in, and pulled out a blue colored wire. The robot fell onto the ground with the others.

"Ten…"

Sara began digging though the packed bag, looking for anything about Shepherd or Tails. But she couldn't locate the elusive information buried in the pile of clothes. She began to lose hope when she noticed a small square figure poking out the side of the bag.

"That's it!" She said to herself as she dug the object out of its hiding place.

It was an old picture frame made of wood that had been banged up after years of carrying its precious cargo with the mysterious dog. The glass was cracked and covered in dust which Sara promptly wiped off. Behind the glass was a picture of three men all in a Military Dress uniform, each highly decorated. On the left stood a German shepherd who Sara quickly identified as Shepherd and on the right was a Monkey of some sort. In the middle stood a Fox, more decorated than the other two combined, with an eye patch over one of his eyes and a sheathed Saber on his belt.

On his uniform was a nametag that read: Prower

"Well this answers one question," Sara smiled, "I bet I can use this as leverage against Shep in order to learn what that contract is…."

"Ugh! Where is this guy's weakness?" The bruised fox staggered back as he glared at the last robot. His armor was unbreakable, he had no exposed pressure points, and as far as Tails was concerned no internal weaknesses to exploit.

He spun his tails and took flight. When he was Just under the ceiling he began to observe the robot. "Maybe this isn't a physical weakness at all," He wondered, "Maybe the real weakness is his battery life or he has some pain threshold I need to exceed."

Tails positioned himself over the robot and dropped with his leg extended and aimed at the robots head. The drone jumped out of the way in time and Tails landed hard on his leg.

"Ouch! Better not try that again." He thought as his leg began to throb.

Tails began to charge the opponent but the first step he took with his bad leg canceled his attack. Realizing he wouldn't be able to move around like he did before he limped towards the last robot.

"It shouldn't be this hard! I've smashed robots three time this one's size without having any trouble, so why can't I win!"

Panting he reached his destination. He was bruised and exhausted, if the fight dragged on any longer he would be in serious trouble. Tails began punching at random; banking on the pain limit theory he had earlier. Without any difficulty every punch was blocked, parried, or dodged altogether. Finally the drone pulled back its fist and unleashed a punch on Tails face. Tails staggered back for a second. His vision blurred, and for a moment all the pain was gone. A small red liquid began to drip from his nose.

Then everything went black.

For the next few days this became his routine. He would wake up early, run to the training room and square off against the robots, each time defeated by the last robot. Afterwards when he recovered from the fight Shepherd lectured him on pressure points, psychological warfare, and basic fighting skills. Whenever he found free time he began to work on building the tornado.

Sara was usually a great help when it came time to work on the Tornado. It was nice having an extra set of hands as well as someone to talk to. With the rigorous work Shepherd had him doing the time spent on his new airplane became the only joy he found.

While Tails and Sara worked on the Tornado, Shepherd was in the training room putting the eleven robots that had been defeated that day back together.

"Who knew such a little guy could pack such a big punch"

Days turned to weeks and Tails slowly became stronger and stronger. It got to the point when Tails could defeat the first eleven robots within three minutes, but that last robot always won in the end.

"I'll get him next time!" Tails would always say to himself after a fight.

Eventually Sara learned where the training room was and would watch with Shepherd as Tails fought with all his might. Every time she would ask Shepherd questions, earning his trust, so she could ease the information out of him instead of straight up blackmailing him.

Outside the cave the world began to stabilize. Without Tails embarrassing the BKA there was no longer a reason to butcher any civilians. However, hoping to turn the people against Tails a rumor was planted about Tails abandoning them, and that his only concern was to get off the island. Some people believed it, but with the amount of people that witnessed the attempted executions in both the theater and in town hall, most regarded it as worthless propaganda.

"Tails will be back." They said, "Just give him time."

_Man this chapter was a pain to write. Anyway I'm happy to see people are still reading this. Were about halfway through the first book and it's about to get really good in the next couple of chapters. Please Review and I'll see you next time._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Wrench"

"Here you go"

"Screw driver"

"Got it"

"Duct tape"

"Here you…. Wait you're going to use duct tape on a supersonic fighter jet?" Sara said in disbelief.

"Well no other tape can handle the G forces." A smiling fox replied.

Sara rolled her eyes and handed Tails the tape. They had been working on the tornado whenever Tails caught a break from Shepherd's training. Of course that almost always meant working hard into the night.

"I swear working late is making him make bad decisions with this jet. Seriously first the rubber ducky now this… I still don't even know how he used the rubber ducky in the first place!"

"Alright guys it's time to call it a night. You got a lot of work to do tomorrow Tails." Shepherd said walking into the room. He rarely ever stepped into the workshop other than to tell them to go to bed. He always gave the excuse, "The last time I used a hammer I nearly took the Generals one good eye," whenever they asked for his help.

The two got up to exit the room and Sara took one last look around the room. The floor was covered in tools Tails had used and the walls where decorated with blueprints the fox had drawn up. Of course the blueprints where never looked at since Tails knew the design by heart and the only thing about them Sara understood was that they were making an airplane.

They left the room and followed Shepherd down the hall towards the barracks they regularly slept in. They found the room and each went to their separate cots. Sara's was blocked off from the others by an old curtain that had a hole Tails couldn't help but look through every morning. Of course he never saw anything since she never changed out of the old dress she was wearing when she met Tails.

"Maybe we should find her some new clothes." Tails thought.

The three laid down in their old cots, and soon all of them were asleep, everyone except for Tails that is. He was always weary of going to sleep since he'd been having the same nightmare about fighting Sonic on a nightly basis.

"By the time I get off this island I'm going to have sleep deprivation." He thought as he lay there looking at the ceiling.

Eventually his eyes became too strong to resist and shut for the night, sending Tails back to the forest where he would again fight Sonic.

At first Tails had resisted the urge to fight back but the pain was all too real in this dream. After a week he gave in and began to fight back against his friend but he never won. He always found himself pulling his punches and never really taking advantage of the training he was learning in the real world. It was just too hard to hurt the only family he had, even if it was really just an image of his hero his mind was projecting.

With tears in his eyes the young fox woke up. That night Sonic had spin dashed him into a tree breaking most of his ribs and shattering his skull. He sat up and couldn't resist the urge to check his head and chest for any sign of injury.

"Nothing as usual" he whispered to himself.

"You're up bright and early…" Shepherd said climbing out of his own cot. "… You must be anxious to face off against number twelve again." The dog said with a grin.

"I'll get him today" Tails replied halfheartedly. He was still thinking about Sonic. If there really was a war in the United Federation than Sonic was sure to be somewhere on the front lines smashing robots up. "I wonder if he even knows I'm here" he wondered.

They ran down to the training room and as usual Shepherd arrived last huffing and puffing from trying to keep up with tails. He stopped his drill sergeant yelling long ago realizing it was making him look like a fool.

Tails stepped into the center of the room and Shepherd went to the observation area. Moments later Shepherd began blasting Eye of the Tiger again.

"Leave it to Shepherd to ruin a perfectly good song by playing it a million times."

Even if the song ended before the fight was over Shepherd would just start it over. Tails still didn't understand how the dog never got tired of hearing the same song every morning.

"Ready?" Shepherd asked.

"As always!"

The lights came on and the robots came to life ready to fight. The first eleven didn't last though the first chorus but after the song finished for the fifth time the last robot was still standing tall.

They exchange blows again and again but only Tails seemed to be suffering each attacks effects. Punches, kicks, and tail whips moved the combatants from one end off the room to the other as Tails searched for the weak spot that had eluded him since day one.

"Maybe the last weak point is just really obscure Tails thought. I bet that weak spot only exposes itself during one of his attacks."

Sara entered the observation area which was a room separated from the arena by a one way three inch thick piece of glass that couldn't be seen from the arena. "You're never going to get tired of this song are you?" she asked

"How can I get tired of the best song ever?" Shepherd responded in a joking tone. He had figured out that his favorite tune was irritating the two foxes and that only encouraged him to play it all the more.

Sara rolled her eyes and looked over at Tails. He was busy evading a series of punches from the robot. He looked tired and it was obvious he couldn't go on much longer.

"You thing he's ever going to win."

"I bet he will. It's in his blood."

"What do you mean in his blood?" Sara replied hiding the sarcasm in her voice. She knew he was referring to Tails being the son of a war hero. Of course she never told Tails about his father. "There is no use in knowing someone's secret if it doesn't stay a secret after all." She thought.

"He's a fighter. Since he was a young child he has been facing insurmountable odds and never giving up once. He defeated the BKA on Cocoa Island, defused a nuclear missile in the middle of Station square, and crushed Eggman's mech on the Space Colony ark, each time single handedly. The boy was born to fight."

Sara rolled her eyes again, "More like his father was a famous General who you think passed down his fighting abilities to his son, if that's even possible," She thought to herself. She intended blackmail Shepherd into telling her about that contract they occasionally spoke of, but that wouldn't work until she had earned his trust.

Tails spotted it. Finally after all these weeks of fighting he found it. When the robot extended his right arm completely a small wire would bulge underneath the rubber skin that was exposed between a gap in the armor plating, so obscure it could take years to find. One look at the wire's placement told Tails this is what he had been waiting for. He had torn into the other robots enough times to know cutting the wire would sever the main computer's connection with the lower torso and rendering the robot useless.

"Now the real question is: how do I get him to leave his arm extended long enough for me to somehow sever the wire." Tails contemplated for a moment how he would do this when he remembered his fight with Shepherd.

Tails got in close to the robot and began to exchange punches, waiting for the robot to perry one of his punches. Tails was exhausted and couldn't afford to keep fighting much longer. If the robot didn't grant Tails wish he would have to wait until tomorrow to complete this training.

Punch after punch was exchanged and finally Tails got his wish. His punch was pushed to the side of the robots face. Using his momentum he leaned forward until he could place his hands on the ground. Positioning his legs and tails into the right spot he prepared to scissor his opponent onto the ground. It was all or nothing.

_Wham!_

It worked perfectly. The dummy collapsed to the ground and before it could get to its feet Tails was on top of the robot's chest. Tails grabbed the arm and pushed it flat on the ground. Then he leaned forward and ripped the wire out with his canine teeth.

Sparks flew everywhere and a painful shock raced through Tails body. His vision blurred as the pain began to subside. He blinked ferociously, fighting to remain conscious, but the stain he had just put on his body was too great. With a thud he collapsed on top of the defeated robot. He was Victorious but just barely.

"Well what do you know" Shepherd laughed as he returned to the training room. Twelve inactive robots lay scattered across the floor as well as an exhausted fox. "In all my years I've only seen three others ever defeat that last robot."

"Wha…What do you mean" Tails groaned as he slowly claimed to his feet, having regained consciousness.

"Well that last robot is sort of…special. You see the first eleven weaknesses where each specially placed in each robot to simulate common weaknesses found in most people or machines however the last weakness or I should say weaknesses where naturally occurring in the robot's design."

"So you mean there was no twelfth weakness to begin with?"

"Actually there could very well be a hundred weaknesses in the robot. Especially since every time that last robots has been beaten it's been by some other method than what you used. You see the purpose of the first eleven robots was to teach you _where_ to look for weaknesses but the last robot was meant to teach you that not every weak spot is obvious and _how_ to look for it when that is the case."

Tails limped up to shepherd as Sara entered the room.

"Well what do you know, He actually did it." She laughed remembering her comment only a few minutes before. "So what are you going to teach him next Shep?"

"Nothing. It usually takes years just to defeat the seventh robot and he just finished of all twelve. I don't think there is anything even the General could teach him at this point."

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Sara asked.

"That's up to Tails"

The two looked over at the exhausted fox. He was bruised after weeks of continuous fighting and it was obvious they would need to wait before making their next move. Fortunately they still hadn't completed the Tornado so for the next few days they dedicated all their time to finishing the Tornado IV and planning how they would strike the BKA's flying warship.

Three days passed and Tails wounds had almost healed completely and the Tornado was near completion. All it needed was a coat of paint and fuel to power the engine. Fuel they would find at the Oil Ocean oil rig.

_Well that's it for chapter 11. And now we get to move on to a different zone as well as see Shepherd and Sara join the fight. Please review and I'll see you next time._


	12. Chapter 12

_I'm Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. I wish I could blame it on school of computer issues but to tell the truth I spent the last forever watching Naruto and playing AC3. But Its finally done and I promise the next update won't take so long. _

Chapter 12

The waves crashed against the small black dingy as they sailed towards the Oil Ocean oil rig. They had found the dingy the night before when they headed to the docks in search of a way to the oil rig. They Shepherd and Sara had dawned solid black combat gear and bullet proof vests Shepherd had dug up out of an old closet. Tails only wore a black Kevlar vest as a part of a compromise with Shepherd after he objected to wearing the clothes.

Tails looked up at the night sky and couldn't hold down the bad feeling in his gut.

"Something's terribly wrong. I know my plan is sound but…" He looked over at Shepherd and Sara, "The last time I tried something like this Sara and I wound up about to be executed in the middle of Metropolis, and I have no idea how Shepherd will do when push came to shove. The fox spent the next few minutes sizing the two up.

He was confident Shepherd could handle himself but Sara wasn't much of a fighter. She just didn't seem have it in her to kill someone.

"Everything alright kid?" the dog asked.

"Yeah it's just…."

"Just what?" Sara piped in.

"Um…." Tails looked franticly for something to hide his doubts about the mission. He caught sight of Shepherds strange looking gun. "It's just something seems unusual about your gun Shep."

"Oh this… well this is the WS-135 Multi caliber prototype. You see it has three revolving barrels and each fires a different caliber bullet. Anything from a 9mm to a 50cal can be fired from this baby," The proud German Shepherd boasted.

Tails looked at the weapon and began to dissect each working part with his brain.

"But how do you fire such a wide range of bullets if you only have three barrels?" Sara piped in.

"He just swaps out the barrels"

"Right! and it has a telegraphic sight that can zoom up to 5x normal and has thermal and night vision."

"It's surprising GUN doesn't use something similar." The two tailed fox began "They certainly could use it since they have a hard time supplying soldiers when Eggman attacks.

"Well GUN could make these but the price tag for just one WS-135 was 1,200 mobiums. And I doubt those geeks would be willing to foot the bill."

"So anyway…." Sara groaned, not really understanding why they were so interested in some machine gun thingy. "How long until we reach the rig?"

"About 15 minutes" Tails replied.

They sat in silence listening to the engine putter as a full moon lit the sky. Shepherd began to fidget around as anxiety set in. Tails continued to try and find fault in his plan to no avail. Only Sara seemed unfazed by the danger they were about to face.

"Ignorance is bliss" Tails thought to himself.

The light of the distant oil rig began to grow brighter and brighter as the trio approached. Finally after a long anxious journey they arrived.

The rig loomed above the dingy as Tails pulled up next to one of the massive legs supporting the massive structure. Tails spun his namesakes and Shepherd grabbed his legs. Tails carried him to the platform before heading back down to grab Sara.

While Tails headed back down Shepherd ducked behind a nearby pipe and began to observe the area. The platform seemed deserted and other than the burn off lighting the scene there was no sign the place was operational.

The oil ocean rig was Mobius' largest offshore oil rig and supplies roughly 1/3 of the world's oil. Without the rig GUN would be suffering a fuel crisis and unable to rely on its formidable Mechs.

Tails reached the top and Sara let go of his legs after keeping a bear-knuckle grip the entire trip up.

"See anyone?" Tails whispered.

"No, I think they've called it a night." Shepherd replied

"Good, No you and Sara secure a barrel while I plant the bomb."

Tails spun his tails and took off towards the large derrick.

"Ok Sara keep close and try not to make a sound, we don't want to stir up the hornet's nest.

The two began to search for a barrel of fuel.

Tails landed at the base of the derrick and pulled out a small plastic explosive and proceeded to begin planting it.

Shepherd found an opening to the inside of the rig. He entered a small room and began clearing the area while Sara followed blindly. She had no clue what she was doing and thought it was best to let Shep take care of business. The two entered a narrow hallway where they spotted a patrolling Guard.

Fortunately the guard was facing the opposite way of the duo and Shepherd crept up behind him as silently as possible. He was a few feet from the guard and reading to snap his neck when a loud sneeze echoed down the corridor.

"Wha… Who's there?" The guard snapped as he spun around.

Shepherd didn't have time to make his kill quiet and proceeded to shoot the shocked guard.

BANG!

The gunshot echoed down the corridor alerting every Kukku bird to the duo's presence. Moments later the hall was being swarmed with gun toting birds. The hall was like a hornets nets of bullets and the two were forced to retreat into the outside.

"Sara! Throw a bomb into the doorway!" The dog yelled over the sound of gunfire.

The Vixin pulled one of the small grenades, Tails had given her for the mission, and tossed it into the room as it filled up with unsuspecting soldiers.

BOOM!

The thud of the shockwave punched the two in the gut leaving Sara on her knees vomiting.

"I…I….Killed…."

Shepherd looked down at her as she painted the floor in barf. He remembered what it was like the first time he had to kill someone. He still saw the whites of the man's eyes every time he went to sleep.

"I wish I could say that it gets easier… but…" Shepherd looked into the decimated room, "In reality it only gets harder every time."

Sara slowly climbed up to her feet and began to brush the vomit off her shirt.

"Come on Tails is counting on us." He reminded her.

The sound of more gunfire pierced their ears as a bullet whizzed by Shepherd's head.

"Crap!" Shepherd yelled as he grabbed Sara and pushed her to the ground. Continuous gunfire continued to poor from the room as the two made their way out of the line of fire.

"Sara! Throw in another bomb!"

"…"

"SARA!"

"I…can't…."

"Yes you can! If you don't we'll both end up dead!"

"But…." Sara struggled to lift another grenade.

"DO IT!"

_*BOOM*_

Another blast shook the room. For a moment Sara stood motionless looking at her hands. They were empty. Again she collapsed to the ground as she began to cough up more vomit.

"Sara…" Shepherd kneeled down beside her, "If you hadn't done it we would have wound up dead. Remember these birds are the same ruthless killers who killed your friends and neighbors."

"I know but…" Sara looked at the blood stained floor, "…I never imagined it would be so…."

"Don't think about it. More soldiers are defiantly on their way and we still have a job to do. Without us the Tornado will never get airborne." Shepherd said as he helped Sara to her feet.

"Ok….just…don't make me kill anyone…" she mumbled

"Alright, just be ready to hand me a grenade if things go south.

The duo ran off again as they continued their search for the barrel of fuel.

Tails ears perked as the sound of gunfire echoed in the distance.

"Crap they were spotted already…. I better finish up quick every Kukku on the rig is probably headed straight for them."

A light boom sounded in the distance.

Tails felt the ground vibrate and began to work faster on his explosive.

"Just got to re-wire the timer and….It's done" He mumbled to himself.

Tails got up and turned towards the sound of more gunfire followed by another explosion.

"Alright guys don't worry I'm on my way."

_Again sorry about the wait, and thank you for putting up with my procrastination. I will have the next update up within the next two weeks. See you in Chapter 13._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Shepherd and Sara rand across the deck of the oil rig as they continued their search for fuel, every couple of seconds a bullet whizzed by their heads. They had stirred the hornets' nest and it was defiantly time to go.

Slowly clouds began to obscure the night sky making the already dark scene even darker. With only a small amount of burn-off to light the two's way the task of finding their objective became more and more difficult.

_Pa-ting_

A stray round bounced of a nearby metal pipe causing oil to begin to spay out onto the deck.

"Sara! Give me a bomb!"

"..O…Ok…" The scared vixen obediently handed a small round explosive to the War dog.

Shepherd stopped having seen his opportunity. Turning around as fast as he could he chucked the explosive towards the spilled oil.

_BOOM_

A large ball of fire leaped out of the puddle illuminating the area and obscuring the two from their pursuers.

Seizing the opportunity Shepherd began to observe his surroundings. On the now lit deck he could see a pile of red cylinders propped up by a nearby wall.

"Bingo!"

"Did you find something Shep?" Sara mumbled.

"Not just something I found our ticket out of this mess."

The two made their way over to the pile and lifted up the first barrel they found. Shepherd took a glance at the writing on the side. FUEL was written in bold white letters along with some disclaimer about flammability.

They carried it over to the side of the rig over by the railings.

"Great. So now what? Our boats on the other side."

"We wait for the genius that thought it was a good idea to steal oil from a fully fortified enemy rig to get here."

The flames blocking the two from the horde of angry Kukku birds, who in the excitement forgot their ability to fly, began to die down. Within moments the two would be cornered with nowhere to run.

"Alright little dude we could rally use your help right about now." Shepherd groaned as he raised his machine gun ready to unleash a hail of bullets.

The last of the flames died and the army began its charge at the two. Bullets danced across the deck and one found its way into Shepherds left shoulder. Moments later another bullet found its mark and planted itself in Sara's chest.

"AGH!" They both cried, as Shepherd dropped his weapon in pain.

Realizing their victory the mass of soldiers ceased firing and began to cheer. They had won.

_BLAM!_

A pair Yellow tails smacked the face of an unsuspecting Kukku causing him to stumble into his friends.

_POW!_

A red and white shoe kicked another in the gut causing the same effect.

Stunned the other birds looked at the young eleven year old fox standing between them and their prey.

"Sorry I'm late guys" Tails glanced back at his injured friends and began scratching his ear. There was no doubt about it he had screwed up. In hindsight sending his friends to look for something not even he had any clue where to find on an oil rig full of flammable materials and angry birds with automatic weapons was a very bad idea.

"How did I miss that on the boat ride over?" He thought as he saw the blood pouring from the wounds in his friends' bodies.

Turning his attention back on the mob that had recovered from its initial shock he knew he would have to solve this issue.

Taking the initiative he crouched down on one knee and prepared to mimic his hero's famous spin dash.

"Been ages since I've been bowling," He chuckled as his body began to form into a spinning ball.

The birds saw the ball and realized they were about to turn into a series of bowling pins began to scatter. Tails rolled towards the panicking frenzy and plowed through a couple of birds. He recovered from his ball form to find himself surrounded on all sides by his foes.

"Man there's a lot of them" he thought as he took a defensive stance.

Seeing the fox turned away from him one of the birds took the knife he had stashed in his back pocket and charged in an attempt to stab the fox in the back of the head.

But just as he was extending his arm Tails felt something brush against one of his Tails and turned his head just barely avoiding the fatal blow.

Tails grabbed the still extended arm by his face and pulled it forward while extending one of his legs into the path of the distressed Kukku. The bird tripped over the leg and collapsed onto three of his friends leaving all three lying on the ground dazed.

Other birds continued to attack the fox that began to deflect his enemies' attacks toward each other. Effortlessly he danced In the middle of the mob of birds. Half of the birds lying helplessly on the ground had been victims of their own friends attack.

After a few minutes of fighting only a few kukus remained to face Tails. But now that their friends weren't all over the place the remaining felt that they could use firearms without harming each other.

Lifting their guns the Kukku birds took aim at the two-tailed fox.

_Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta_

Gunfire echoed across the oil rig as smoke from the gun barrels obscured their vision.

For a second they thought they had killed him. But when the smoke cleared they discovered they had missed completely.

Tails, who had taken flight to avoid the onslaught of gunfire, raced towards one of the birds with his fist pulled back.

_POW_

The fox unleashed his punch into his enemy's gut sending him flying back on to his rear end. Without landing Tails rose back up into the sky as more gunfire began to chase the flying fox.

"Crap" Tails thought realizing if he got close to the shooting birds he would likely wind up with a bunch of holes in him "I need some way to deal with them without winding up Swiss cheese. That's when he remembered Sara had his explosives.

"Sara, toss me a grenade!"

Sara lay dazed on the ground. Shepherd had taken the opportunity to bandage both Sara and himself up but between blood loss and exhaustion the two were having difficulty remaining conscious.

"SARA!"

The vixen shut her eyes "I think I'll take a nap."

"SHEPHERD!"

The bullets where getting closer and closer to the flying fox.

"SARA!"

No response.

"I COULD USE ALITTLE HELP RIGHT NOW!"

Still nothing.

A round ripped through the edge of Tails' shoe barely missing his feet.

"SARA! I NEED A GRENADE NOW!"

"Wha…" The Vixen snapped awake.

"GIVE ME A GRENADE!"

Sara picked up a grenade and tossed it up to Tails who quickly pulled the pin and chucked it into the mob of Soldiers.

_BOOM_

Feathers danced around the smoking blast site.

Tails landed by his semiconscious friends.

"Come on guys wake up."

Tails shook the two gently hoping to avoid disturbing their bandages.

"I'm up I'm up." Shepherd groaned having forgotten his predicament during his sleep.

Sara sat up without saying a word but from the look on her face Tails knew she was in a lot of pain.

"Alright guys I'm going to get the boat and bring it around you two sit tight and try not to fall asleep."

Tails spun his tails and proceeded to fly down towards the ocean and began to look for where they left the small dingy. Finding it he landed inside and began to row towards the area where his friends where.

After bringing the boat around, he flew up and grabbed his friends one by one and lowered them into the boat. Then he rolled the barrel over the edge of the rig into the ocean below.

Shepherd grabbed the floating barrel and pulled it into the boat.

An exhausted Tails landed on the dingy and with some hesitation began to row it back towards shore.

After a few minutes of rowing Tails stopped and looked up to the sky. The sound of a helicopter began to echo across the waves.

"Crap!" He yelled. "When do we catch a break?"

Moments later a spotlight lit up the water, not far from where they were, as the helicopter began to scan the area.

"This is bad…" Tails thought. "…If they spot us where dead."

He took a glance at his friends who had fallen asleep. "Just when I need you most…" he thought before returning his attention to the helicopter.

His mind began to race as he tried to think up a way to hide from the heli.

"COSMO!" He shouted remembering how he had hid from Speedy in the bushes.

Tails leaped off the boat into the water and began to swim down towards the bottom. It was hard to see in the dark waters but he found some seaweed which he ripped from the ocean floor. Tails raced back up towards the surface praying Sara and Shepherd hadn't been found yet.

He surfaced to find his prayers had been answered. Tails quickly tossed the seaweed onto the boat and climbed in. Once in he began to spread it all over covering himself and his unconscious friends.

Suddenly the spotlight's gaze fell onto the boat. Inside the helicopter a confused pilot sent out a radio transmission.

"Um sir I found what appears to be a boat."

"Is anyone inside?"

"No"

"They must have seen you coming and decided to swim for it. Begin searching closer to shore."

"Rodger"

The helicopter flew off towards the island leaving the unseen trio behind.

They spent the rest of the night returning to shore and by time they had carried their precious fuel to the mystic cave the sun had already raised itself well up into the sky.

_Man there was a lot of action in this chapter and things are just starting to heat up. We have a dogfight coming up as well as a plot twist that I hope will knock your socks off. I'm planning to have the next Chapter up on 12/12/12 but no promises. See you next time._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Three men sat around a long oval table in the middle of a dark room.

"A bomb?" The fat scientist asked.

"Yes… we were able to diffuse it before detonation though," The bird replied.

"That's what has me worried."

"What do you mean?" The uniformed man asked.

"Tails planted a bomb that would cripple our supply of oil and you just disarm it? That fox would never let you just disarm the bomb so easily. No he must have wanted you to disarm it, the question is why?"

"I have a theory," The soldier spoke up, "That fox has been on the island since the war started and by now he knows about your attack Eggman. That means he must know the oil is being sent to you. He probably set the bomb to cause tension between you two. I bet he's trying to trick Eggman into invading Westside so he can escape in the crossfire."

"Possibly…." The bird began, "…But then why not blow up the rig? That would piss ol' Eggy off a lot faster."

Eggman sat silently as The Uniformed man and the leader of the Battle Kukku Army began to argue about Tails motives. He had faced the two tailed fox many times but what he had been hearing the last few weeks confused him. Tails number one priority was always Sonic but yet Tails had yet to try and escape the island and reunite with his hero. Tails must be planning something."

"Kukku did anything else happen on the rig while Tails was planting the bomb?" Eggman interrupted the two's argument.

"Well…. He had two friends of his create a diversion by attacking local guards. They also knocked a barrel of oil into the ocean but other than that nothing."

"And you said one of his friends was caught trying to steal a bunch of tools a few weeks back?"

"Yeah?"

"He's building something then. Something that he thinks will both aid him in escaping Westside and in aiding Sonic."

"But what?" The Kukku asked.

"Impossible to tell, that kid's mind is always a dozen moves ahead. The only thing we can do is speed up production of The Titan prototypes and remove Sonic from the equation as soon as possible. I think the General and I should also send specialists to Westside and see if we can't deal with the fox before this gets anymore out of hand. "

The rain had been pouring down on the island for the last few days as a tropical storm had struck the island. Tails was getting impatient as he had completed the Tornado IV and was ready to make his move. Sara and Shepherd had been recovering from their injuries and after the disaster that was their mission to Oil Ocean where in low spirits. Sara had hardly spoken since the incident and Shepherd was beginning to question the boy's leadership abilities.

"If I don't pull this off soon I'll be out two friends when they finally heal up." He thought as he continued to watch the rain poor down from the front of the cave. "At least the lightning had stopped," he chuckled to himself.

It was getting late and he decided it was a good idea to call it a day. He walked down to the room filled with cots and laid down in the one he had called his own since he found the base hidden inside the mystic cave.

"Will you ever pay attention to any of my warnings?" a cloaked figure leaning against the wall spoke up.

"Longtime no see Cocoa, let's try and make that a habit."

"That's a funny thing to say to someone who saved your life once."

"You didn't save my life so don't go around talking like you did." Tails sat up and glared at the cloaked fox. "Sonic is the one that saved me, not you and your stupid contract."

Cocoa rolled his eyes, "But would you have ever met Sonic without my contract? Anyway I'm not here to argue with you, I'm here to tell you to stop being so reckless."

"Well if you want to tell me how to do my job why don't you do it yourself?"

"Is that something your hero would say?" Cocoa snapped, "Now listen up punk, you have got to stop taking stupid risks its only accelerating the process. Your enemies are not going to let you tear apart their plan before it can come to fruition, and after finding your bomb they've begun speeding up their plans."

"And just what is their plan? Or better yet who are they?"

"Why spoil the surprise. Besides knowing you you'll try and stop it before the appointed time comes."

"And you wonder why I don't like you. You come here and tell me how to "save the world" and then when I ask for useful information I get some vague crap that confuses me! Get out of here and let me sleep, that would be more helpful than what you're doing now!" Tails clinched one of his fists and with his other hand pointed towards the door. He was tired of the Cocoa's condescending voice and didn't want to hear anymore of the crap he had to say.

"Very well," Cocoa turned towards the door, "but before you go to sleep ask yourself this: Where dose Sonic fall in to their plans?"

Cocoa left the room leaving Tails by himself. "Typical," The boy thought to himself, "Even in leaving he says something to only make all of this more complicated."

Tails laid back down as the sound of rain slowly began to grow fainter. Tomorrow the weather would be ideal enough to fly, and tomorrow he would have his rematch with Speedy.

"I can't wait." He thought as his mind drifted off.

Tails awoke in the morning to the familiar sound of Shepherd limping down the halls toward the kitchen. He promptly climbed out of bed and proceeded to find and help his injured friend to the table.

"So…. Are you finally going to fly today?" Shepherd asked the same question he'd been asking since the storm hit.

"I think the rain has died down so yes I will." Tails responded as he poured a bowl of cereal and placed it in front of the injured dog.

"Bout time, I was beginning to think that fiasco at Oil Ocean was going to be for nothing."

"You got to have more faith in me Shep."

Tails poured another bowl and left to carry it down to Sara who would be getting up in a soon. He returned a few minutes later to find Shepherd murmuring to himself.

"…if you could only see him now…he…he's just like you…and…" The dog turned noticing his eavesdropper.

Tails grinned, "Who are you talking to?

"How much did you hear?" Shepherd bowed his head in shame

"Only what you just said, but please go on I'm interested in who you think I'm just like."

"Just an old friend of mine." The dog reluctantly replied, "So…. when are you heading out?"

Tails glanced at a nearby clock hanging on the wall, "In about an hour, but I probably should do a once over of the Tornado IV before I leave.

Tails turned and left the room as a "Good luck" echoed in his ears. He made his way to the Tornado that was lined up for a risky take off out the entrance of the cave. He would have only a few inches of space between the wings and the wall but the take off didn't worry Tails. Landing back inside the cave was.

He began to check every detail of the aircraft to find nothing had changed since he had to rebuild the plane after dissecting it to maneuver it though the small doors of the cave. After his inspection was complete he climbed into the cockpit and pushed the throttle forward.

"Let's do this!" He cried as the jet roared to life and he was bolted out the cave entrance and into the sky.

_I know what you're thinking. What was that about having the new chapter up on 12/12/12? Well to tell the truth I just kept procrastinating. This chapter wasn't exiting to write so every time I sat down to write it I would get a few lines in and then stop to do something more interesting. But don't worry the next chapter is full of action so it will probably be up in a few days. (Knock on wood) Anyway please leave feedback and if there is anything you think I can improve on don't be afraid to tell me. See you next time._


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A Cobalt Hedgehog stepped out of a burned out building and began to wander the burned out streets of Future City. Before Eggman's attack this city was home to the world's brightest minds and technology decades ahead of its time, but because of this Eggman made capturing the city one of his primary objectives. Now air raids became a daily occurrence and wounded GUN soldiers where regularly brought to the city from the nearby frontlines.

"Man this place is even worse off than I heard" He spoke out loud to no one in particular.

He made his way towards the center of the city where he heard from a local one of the large Holo-screens was still broadcasting The World NEWS Network.

The WNN is an international news station that doesn't broadcast pure propaganda like most Federation sponsored News networks, a great place for a Supersonic vigilantly to go when he needs to know what's up.

As he entered the burned out park that marked the center of the city it became obvious he wasn't the only one who liked to stay up to date on current events. The place was packed and people stood shoulder to shoulder as they watched a broadcast about a brutality in the occupied Station Square.

Sonic pushed his way towards the front of the mob. "If they got word on Station Square maybe they'll have some information about Westside too," he thought as people began to recognize and make room for him.

He was fully aware Tails was last seen in a dogfight over the island but after a report he'd been shot down all word from the island stopped. He was certain Tails was still alive and wouldn't even be worried if the same thing happened to Tails elsewhere but this was Westside, and the last time he and Tails where on that island they tried to kill Tails…right after they had rescued the island's residents from Eggman.

As the Fox rose up into the sky he looked out at the remains of Metropolis. "I bet everyone's starving out there," He thought with a grin, "I think they need something to cheer them up." He banked his new Tornado IV towards the city and hit the after burners. "This should do the trick.

The Tornado IV was unlike any of his previous models. It looked more like a traditional fighter with a standard nosecone, and glass canopy. The entire bottom half was dedicated to the internal jet engine, on which the rest of the fuselage sat on. However he kept the elevated tail that he had used on the Mark 2 and 3. Tails installed only one set of wings which were swept back like most of GUN's fighters. On the tips of each wing where most designers added missile slots of expanded fuel tanks Tails had added two small jet engines that would rotate up and down to increase maneuverability. The Paint job was the same as his previous models and both wings sported his traditional Two Tails emblem.

As he raced towards the city he noticed a large statue depicting Battle Kukku 15 standing over the city.

"And I thought Eggman had a big ego," He chucked as he flipped a switch on his joystick.

The Tornado raced closer and closer towards the stone behemoth. A light beep began to echo through the cockpit signaling a missile was ready to fire.

"Good Morning Metropolis!" He shouted with joy as he squeezed the trigger shooting a small rocket towards the statue.

_BOOM!_

The top of the giant bird statue crumbled leaving only the bottom torso standing.

"Don't worry Kukkus; it looked like bird crap even before the pigeons got to it." Tails laughed unaware of the ramifications his actions were about to have.

Awe struck a middle aged chipmunk starred at the crumbling statue. In one hand was a camera and the other held a phone to his ear.

"Hey Boss, I've been on this island for an hour and I've already got you a story."

"And this concludes our report on Station Square, we will keep you up to date on any new developments in the area and…." The newscaster stopped for a moment as a piece of paper was handed to her. For a moment she was quiet before she began to read. "We've just received some Breaking News…"

The Tornado raced up into the sky, bellow him and audience began to fill the city all staring at the lone fighter plane. Tails rocked his wings as a signal to the people bellow: "Things are about to change around here."

Moments later the radar on the Tornado's dashboard was covered with blips. With a smirk Tails turned his tornado towards the swarm, "The warship maybe equipped with stealth tech but if all the fighters it deploys don't you've wasted a good 2 billion mobiums."

The sky before the tornado was dotted with enemy fighters just like the day Tails first arrived. Again they raced towards each other aiming their weapons. For a second everything slowed down, missiles and gunfire danced past the tornado's canopy, Tails squeezed the trigger on the joystick and responded with his own volley. The two drew closer and closer with only seconds until they met. Five seconds…four seconds….three seconds…..two….ONE!

The swarm rocketed around the tornado as both Tails and the Kukku pilots began turning and diving across the war torn sky. Lead danced across the fuselage of a pair of unfortunate Kukkus who found themselves in Tails' gun sights. Two explosions sounded off as the once supersonic fighter jets became a heap of falling scrap.

The eyes of the world where upon the scene unfolding: Cheers echoed across the streets of Future City as live footage captured the battle, as word reached the front lines the Soldiers dug into their mud covered fortifications left their shelters to charge forward into enemy territory, riots broke out in Metropolis as local resistance factions used the confusion to destroy several buildings used by Eggman to build weapons. After months of nothing but bad news the concept of one boy taking on an entire air force was enough to bring hope to the world.

Sonic starred in disbelief as he watched the boy he rescued from a life of misery change lift the spirits of the very people who once tormented him. "Tails… I never knew you had it in you…" The hedgehog chuckled and with a grin he said "Keep it up little buddy!"

Tails turned hard catching two fighters that had gotten on his six o clock off guard and causing them to overshoot, with another jerk of the stick he was behind them and a second later two missiles slammed into both aircraft. "I need to hurry up and finish these guys off; otherwise I won't be able to deal with the warship." Tails looked over in the direction on the massive battleship and began to analyze its body.

"Well, well, well I'd recognize that body style anywhere," he laughed "Borrow that from Eggman did you? That'll only make my job easier. Gunfire flashed by the tornado returning Tails' attention to the task at hand and with a quick roll and a squeeze of the trigger another Kukku fighter jet plummeted towards the ground.

_Yeah I know, I know I said this chapter wouldn't take too long and what do you know it takes longer than any of my other chapters. BUT I HAVE AN EXCUSE! I recently was accepted to college and have been jumping through hoops to apply for federal aid, scholarships, ect. All while keeping my grades up and…the new Sly Cooper game took up my free time. I still have work to do for college so I'm not making any promises but I will try to invest more time into writing this story but chapters may take longer to post than I would like. _


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